


The Long Road to Freedom 2: Fire on the Water

by celtious



Series: The Long Road to Freedom [2]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 33
Words: 45,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24971371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtious/pseuds/celtious
Summary: Sequel to 'The Long Road to Freedom: The Dastardly Prince.' Note: This story is many years old, but I have decided to share it unrevised.When a demoness from the mainland starts causing trouble in Kuroihi's territory, she begins a harrowing journey she may not survive. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru continues his relentless search for power and the Tetsusaiga.
Relationships: Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)/Original Character(s), Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Long Road to Freedom [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/387406
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. Smoke

***

Previously:

Sesshoumaru chuckled.

"Such audacity... Once again you presume to know, to understand…"

His claws crackled, glowing again as he drew back for a strike.

"The will of this Sesshoumaru is incomprehensible to the likes of you, filthy half-breed!"

Her powers flared in an instant, and she smeared her thick black and purple flames across his face as she twisted to dodge, the acrid heat from his claws just kissing her cheek as they missed her. She followed the momentum, letting it carry her over the edge of the cliff to the frozen riverbank below. A bed of purple flames softened her fall just enough, and she quickly scrambled to bury herself in the snow until she was certain he had left.

'You and your fucking mouth,' she chided herself.

***

Sesshoumaru snarled, rubbing his eyes against his sleeve to rid them of the flames. They clung stubbornly, blinding him and burning his nose, and took their time to dissipate. A quick glance over the cliff once they had shown no sign of the half-breed, and his damaged sense of smell couldn't pinpoint its scent; it had escaped.

Sesshoumaru glared at his own claws as if they had betrayed him. He would never admit, even to himself, why he hadn't followed through with the strike, why he'd knowingly aimed too low, but he did wonder why the creature had not used its lethal flames. Why these purple ones that did not burn? Did it fear to harm him and inciting an active hunt, or was it that the hanyou had not wanted to cause him injury at all?

He pushed the thoughts away. They were petty, senseless things, and he had no time to waste, especially not on a creature unwilling to harm a foe bent on its death. He took to the sky once more. After learning that the Sounga was lost to him, he'd re-doubled his efforts in search of his father's tomb and the Tessaiga. At least there was a clue to its location, and while Sesshoumaru had yet to parse the riddle out, he felt that he was close.

***

Kuroihi was sure she had frostbite somewhere as she trudged through the snow. Home was just around the corner now, and she could already taste that nice hot pot of tea she so craved. As she drew closer, though, she was met with the scene she always feared she would eventually come home to.

Blood splattered across the snow, cold and frozen over like the body that slumped lifelessly through her doorway.

"Ji…rou?"

She stood, blinking at the snow and frost covered body. He'd been dead for a while now, perhaps a day or so. She nudged him.

"Come'on, Jirou, get up…"

His whole body shifted, frozen solid.

_'Gods, no, please…no… Why? WHY?!'_

She ignored the burning in her eyes, examining the rest of the area to find his mate and fawnlings had suffered the same fate. All of them, strangely, were missing their eyes, same as the demons she'd killed when she'd left some time back.

It was her fault. She'd missed something. She'd allowed this to happen.

She carried each one of them carefully down to the clearing, burying them all together as best she could. She sat there in the snow for a long time, blinking at the headstone she'd placed even as the wetness in her eyes fell and froze on her face. Her skin was red and numb to the point that she didn't feel the cold anymore.

This was all her fault. It was always her fault.

"I'm so sorry Jirou. I..."

She tried to find something but could find nothing she could have done differently that would have prevented this.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

It was a female's voice, thick with a foreign accent.

Kuroihi blinked and glanced until she found the source. It was a small female in a General humanoid shape, though she was clearly not human judging from the amount of youki she had pulsing through her. Her clothing and armor further indicated her origin, and Kuroihi wondered absently what a person like her was doing here.

"Who are you?"

"Oh! Of course, my mistake."

She bowed, but in a different manner than Kuroihi was accustomed to.

"My name is Shoucheng."

"Shoucheng. Forgive me, but do I know you?"

She was in no mood for this.

"Oh, I would say not."

Her cheery smile did not fade. Kuroihi slowly rose from the snow.

"What is it you want?"

"Well, I had wanted you, but you see, you were gone when I came, so I had to wait. I don't much care for waiting."

It took her a moment, but Kuroihi finally put it together, and she suddenly wanted to throttle this female with her own insides. She forced herself to calm.

"You killed these people."

"Oh, no, I just took their eyes. Sometimes they die afterward, sometimes they don't. It depends on the creature, but really it was your eyes that I wanted, and now you're here."

Kuroihi frowned.

"My..eyes? What use could you possibly have for the eyes of a petty half-demon?"

"Ooooh, but you're not exactly petty, are you? Besides, your eyes can see the fire prism, and I want it."

"I don't know anything about a prism, but you need to leave before I decide you're not allowed to live anymore."

"But I can't go without your eyes, you see."

"And I will not relinquish them to one such as you."

"What a shame. Father will surely thrash me well for my failure." she whined.

"That is not my concern."

Kuroihi was growing tired of this woman's prattle, and deep inside, her demon demanded her death. Slowly she drew her tonfa.

"Tsk tsk, so barbaric, resorting to violence so soon. Ah well, I suppose I can take the eyes from your corpse, assuming there's anything left, that is."

Kurohi twirled her tonfa into a tighter grip, her youki wrapping them in spirals of her black and green fire.

Shoucheng giggled, reaching out with a single hand. Her palm sparked, engulfing her hand in ravenous black flames.

Kuroihi could only stare.

' _What in the…?'_


	2. Intruder

Kuroihi blinked, awe-struck for a moment, at the black flames dancing in Shoucheng's palm.

_'Foolish,_ ' she thought, ' _of course, there are others with the same power, but, is hers truly the same as mine?'_

She lashed her black and green fire at the woman, who deflected it easily and lashed back with her ow. They quickly fell into a duel of flames like this, back and forth, the snow around them sizzling away quickly and making the ground muddy.

"Persistent, aren't we?"

Shoucheng bounced a small orb of flame in her palm. Kuroihi twirled her tonfa in her grip again as the both of them caught their breath.

"Something like that."

"You know, this would be much easier for me and far less painful for you if you'd just give in already!"

She flung the orb and Kuroihi batted it away, using the reach of her tonfa to finally tag the woman in her calf. It wasn't a powerful strike, but the contact was all she needed. Her black and green fire jerked and snaked its way up Shocheng's leg, quickly tangling the woman in its ravenous bite.

Shoucheng leaped back, youki flaring to push the flames off her skin as they began eating away at her. Kurohi allowed no distance to grow between them, showering the woman with blow after blow, quickly overrunning her with fire.

Finally, Shoucheng had enough, screaming as she jumped high and out of Kuroihi's reach. She could only watch as the woman's youki flared again, eventually overcoming Kuroihi's flames and casting them off into the show below. Her flesh was seared and her armor scorched, her formerly pristine hair now frizzed and falling out of place. Kuroihi couldn't help but notice that Shoucheng seemed to have much less reserve youki than she should have at the moment.

"Enough! This is hardly worth my life. Why can you not simply relent to the fate father has chosen for you?!"

"No one, not this 'father' of yours nor any lord or peasant dictates my fate!" Kuroihi roared.

Shoucheng snarled something in her foreign tongue.

"Father decides the fates of all who wield the black flames! Being a half-demon does not excuse you!"

"How about you let me talk to this 'father' myself?"

Shoucheng clutched at her belly in a fit of laughter.

"Impossible! Father sees no one without invitation."

"Then invite me."

Kuroihi demanded, authority in her tone. The woman was delaying, allowing herself to heal, and Kuroihi was loath to let her continue much longer. Besides, if this 'father' person truly held sway over people with abilities like Kuroihi's, maybe she could learn something from him.

Shoucheng blinked, seeming to consider the idea, then smiled and lowered herself down into the snow once more.

"Father will be greatly displeased, but I think watching him exact your fate with his own hands will be worth the punishment. Consider yourself invited, half-breed."

Kurohi nodded, lowering her tonfa as she closed to a safe conversational distance with the woman.

"Where are we going, then?"

"To the continent, Shanghai, though I don't expect you know where that is. You've probably never even been off this insignificant island before, have you?"

Kuroihi shook her head.

_'Keep talking, female.'_

Her inner demon quivered with anticipation as she continued to inch closer, ever so slowly.

"I presume I will need to learn your language."

"Father speaks yours fluently, but perhaps it would amuse him for you to learn the civilized tongue."

Kuroihi merely nodded again, fighting to keep her inner demon at bay. She'd only have one shot at this.

"Shall we go then? Best not to keep him waiting."

Shoucheng scoffed, muttering something in her strange language again as she turned and began to leave, Kuroihi right behind her.

"Do try to keep up, half-"

As soon as her back was turned completely, her attention elsewhere, Kuroihi struck, wrapping her tonfa, arms, and legs securely around the willowy female. She knew she'd promised herself to never do this again, but, goddamnit, this arrogant bitch had violated her domain, insulted her home and culture, and slaughtered her friends! She deserved every second of this agony.

Shoucheng yelped and thrashed and screamed as Kuroihi let her demon scream to the fore, her youki freed to swirl and consume the both of them in a whirl of ravenous green and black flames. Shoucheng's screams were shrill as Kuroihi faded to red. When she came to again, she was huddled in Shinjirou's hill-side cavern, covered in mud and ash. Her clothes had all burned away, leaving her in only her dragon-hide-and-bone armor, the ends of her hair singed.

She remained there for a moment longer as the cold crept in on her again, sighing with relief that she'd been able to come-to at all. She gazed out of the cavern to the clearing below and found a pile of black in the shape of a body. She'd been successful.

Never again. She swore. She felt no shame for her deceptive tactic. Shoucheng, like so many others, had flaunted her greatest weakness, arrogance, and Kuroihi was never one to pass up opportunity. She considered herself many things, but truly honorable was not one of them. At least, not anymore.


	3. Leaving Home

1403 early-Muromachi Period, Spring

Sesshoumaru was in a foul mood this day, lacking even the modicum of patience he sometimes had. It seemed no matter where he went or how he toiled, he continued to come across those who did not yet know his name or reputation, and thus refused to heed his commands. Always, they argued, always remaining in his way. All he wanted was to pass unobstructed, but he was just as happy to put them in their place when they did not remove themselves from his path. As he observed the raging battle before him on his way to the eastern mountains of Musashi, it seemed he would find only more hindrance, and he flexed his claws in eager anticipation.

He paid no mind to the masses of imps in battle against their larger foes, neither did he care that the demon now before him was about to make a meal out of one of them. All he cared was that it was in his way, and in one manner or another he would make it move.

"You're in my way. Step aside." He commanded.

The demon turned its horrid face to him, fangs dripping with saliva as it screamed back at him, ignorant of the being it now threatened. Sesshoumaru found he had no patience to toy with this ignorant creature.

"I said you're in my way, understand?"

He snarled and snapped his whip to life, easily dismembering the ugly thing. His gave into his bloodlust, venting all his pent-up rage on the rest of the demon hoard, all of them simple, pathetic, weak.

The imp, now free, scrambled out of his way as Sesshoumaru resumed his course, shouting at his fellows to clear a path for demon lord. They complied quickly, heads pressed to the ground in reverence as he passed them in silent calm. Behind him, the imps chattered in anger and despair, and he paid little mind to the tiny footsteps that rushed to meet and surpass him.

The tiny imp with the brown robes that had almost been eaten prostrated himself on the side of the path ahead as Sesshoumaru approached.

"Forgive me for following you," he began, still awe-stricken, "It may not have been your intention, but you saved my life! It would be an honor to become your servant."

Sesshoumaru simply continued on, unimpressed by the display.

"Wait, please! A moment of your time!"

The imp once again scrambled to catch up, continuing to beg Sesshoumaru for even a moment's consideration, eventually falling silent when Sesshoumaru did not respond.

_'Tenacious thing. So small and fragile, though perhaps he could be of some use. I shall give him a test.'_

They walked in silence until, finally, they arrived at the base of the mountains. Sesshoumaru's nose easily found the scent of the river and he followed it to the waterfall where he'd hidden the item he'd come to fetch. The imp once again groveled behind him, waiting as Sesshoumaru drew the nintoujou from its crevice.

He glanced back, considering the creature for once again before tossing the staff to him.

"Here."

The imp looked up just in time to catch it, giving it a quick inspection before thanking him.

"Uh. What is it?"

Sesshoumaru didn't felt any need to explain the details just yet. He would admit, however, that he was somewhat pleased with the imp's countenance, how he seemed to understand his place and station already, and willingly submitted himself to it. The change was more than welcomed, Sesshoumaru decided he would at least give the creature a chance.

"I will entrust this to you if you are able to use it."

The imp gasped with awe, holding the staff in humble reverence.

"I am most honored! Please, tell me your name, milord, I must know it!"

He considered the imp coldly for a moment. Did he even deserve to know his name yet? Either way, he supposed he should give the creature something to call him.

"Sesshoumaru."

"Se…shoumaru?"

The imp tried the name on his tongue. Sesshoumaru simply nodded and turned from the fall, paying the imp little mind as he made for his next target. The pattering of tiny feet behind him told Sesshoumaru he was following right along. He would have to become accustomed to this again, the constant presence, but supposed the creature was so insignificant that it would cause him little if any irritation.

Sesshoumaru had never been more mistaken.

***

1404 early-Muromachi Period, Summer

Kuroihi's two-month-long travel south across the great island crescent of Honshu had been, to say the least, perilous. If one thought the demon's squabbles were something to avoid, then they had yet to witness the true might of what humans were capable of in large numbers as she had. It was disgusting, really, all senseless waste and destruction on a petty whim.

She'd never really understood humans, even though she spent had her days of weakness in their villages for a time. Even then, she avoided them if she could, for they were always so fickle and quick to anger and conflict. No, Kuroihi much preferred demons. At least they had an understandable code of behavior.

Slowly, she followed along the coasts, eventually making her way across to the smaller island of Kyushu. The further south she went, the stranger the language became, it seemed, and by the time she made it to the western shores, there were too many dialects for her to keep up with. She recognized the sounds of the language Shoucheng had spoken, however-she would never forget it-, and somehow, eventually, found someone willing to teach her the tongue and bits of the culture.

It would take her almost two years to master the Chinese dialect of Wu enough to feel confidant stepping on that boat. She wouldn't fair well outside the province surrounding Shanghai, but she was sure she'd find what she sought within its borders. With a great apprehension, she bade farewell to her homeland for the time being, praying to the ancestor gods that she might return one day, alive and victorious.

The ride to Shanghai was a nightmare, but they made it. As her feet touched solid ground once more, Kuroihi swore she would only ever take one more boat ride in her life, and it would be the one back home to her sacred island. Unlike the port she'd left in Japan, the city she now found herself in was so diverting and overflowing with new sounds, scents, and sights, that she was certain she would have been overwhelmed if not for her guide. He took her as far as the countryside, claimed his payment, and was gone.

She blinked up at the Chinese sky, finding it somehow a different shade of blue than she was used to, and she wasn't sure whether it actually was a different color or if she was simply imagining it. Everything here was so different, and yet familiar at the same time. It was unsettling.

As she wandered, Kuroihi was comforted to find that the demons here weren't that much different than the ones back home, though they seemed to have the disturbing habit of appearing human-like more often than not. She was used to such forms being indicative of a greater power than those that took more beast-like forms, but that didn't seem to be the case here, and she oftentimes found herself quite perplexed by what she found.

Finally, she stumbled upon a small group she thought she could make some sort of connection with. Water sprites were usually quiet and knowledgeable, right?

She approached slowly, making her presence known to them while still at a polite distance.

"Please, excuse me. I was hoping you could point me in a direction. You see, I'm looking for someone."

Their glassy eyes all fixed on her, clearly as intrigued by her appearance as she was by theirs, all lengths of scaly tails and fins. Her ears flicked, uneasy.

One of them tilted her head almost completely on its side in a questioning manner, and Kuroihi took it as a queue to ask. Even as she did, she began to feel a foreboding.

"I'm looking for a demon referred to as 'father', master over the demons that control black fire."

A murmuration rippled across the group along with the fish in the water below as they each turned to the other to whisper, their eyes glinting in a way Kuroihi did not like as they turned back to her, their shapes morphing in fangs and claws and whip-like appendages.

Kuroihi just sighed as she drew her tonfa.

_'Goddamned fish…'_

***

Sesshoumaru's brow twitched as the imp blathered on behind him. It was enough to suffer the scent of the sea without also having his ears berated by the most irrelevant things. Finally, he had enough.

"Jaken." He barked.

The imp turned an oblivious smile up at his master. "Yes, milord?"

"If you do not silence your senseless prattling, I will silence you permanently."

The imp blinked, trying to decide if Sesshoumaru was serious. "M-my apologies, milord. Is there something you would prefer your humble vassal talk about? I am knowledgeable of many things from rumors of the land to various demon tribes and powers, -oh!-, I am also well versed in-"

"Jaken!"

Sesshoumaru growled, turning to fix the tiny creature with a lethal and chilling stare.

Somehow, the creature seemed to lose its voice, which was just fine for Sesshoumaru. Perhaps now he could manage to hear himself think.

There was silence, both in his head and from the imp.

He ground his teeth as he found he'd completely lost his train of thought.


	4. Name

1404, early-Muromachi Period, late Summer, Shanghai

Had she lost weight? She'd lost weight. Kuroihi bemoaned her shriveling form in the reflection of the river as she bathed. Surviving in this place was a trial, and every time she thought she'd finally gotten used to it, she would encounter another creature or custom that pulled the rug out from under her. To be honest, she was getting fed up with it.

At least they have dragons here, too she thought as she pulled her recently repaired armor back on and slipped into the set of hanfu she'd acquired. There wasn't too much difference in the manner of dress between this place and home, thankfully, though it did take some getting used to. She'd had no luck so far tracking down this 'father' person or finding anyone else who had black fire like she did, but this province was enormous, and almost every demon she'd approached had met her with violence of some kind when she'd asked about her quarry. Whoever this 'father' person was, she was beginning to suspect he was not well-liked here.

She decided to push further inland, and in doing so came upon a fortuitous happenstance. Truly her ancestors smiled upon her.

There in the road before her was a cart and pair of panicking horses, the driver for which was busy beating away at a band of thieves helping themselves to the spoils inside. The bandits were human, clearly, but Kuroihi could recognize that the driver was not.

_'Not my problem.'_

She stepped off the path to go around them.

"Help me! Please, I beg you! My master will kill me!" the driver cried.

Kuroihi could feel the frantic thrashing of his youki as he continued to struggle. She paused, her inner demonic and human natures clashing viciously for a moment. Finally, she sighed.

_'Goddamnit..'_

She turned back around, lamenting at how the last thing she needed was yet another confrontation in this place. She drew her tonfa striking a couple of the thieves into unconsciousness before considering the rest of the band. Seeing their comrades fall seemed to earn her their undivided attention. That or it was her ears; one of the two.

"What the hell? Who the fuck are you?!" demanded the one with the fancy mismatched armor.

' _Probably the leader, at least in strength_ ,' she figured. ' _Either way, he's the most aggressive and fills the alpha role here. Perfect target.'_

There weren't too many of them, about seven now, and judging by the state of their attire and the condition of their various weapons, they were getting desperate. She didn't want to waste any more time on these pests than she had to. Silently, she bounded in, felling the man-who-would-be-king in two solid strikes to his head and back, perching herself on the edge of the cart to look down on the ragtag group as he fell face first in the dirt. She let her jyaki swell, pressing down on them, the edges of her eyes bleeding just enough red to communicate her absolute sincerity.

"Drop what you've taken and leave, or you can find out what a stuck pig feels like."

It took them a minute to process what had just happened, but one by one they did as she commanded, sprinting for the trees and calling back that she 'didn't frighten them none'. Kuroihi sighed, dissipating her excess jyaki and looked down to the demon that had called for her help. He was well-aged, with discs the size of her palm wedged into the lobes of his pointed ears. She wondered for a moment if there were demons that subscribed to human religions, for she'd seen similar decorations on some of the more spiritual humans she'd encountered here.

"You have all my gratitude, young lady, and that of my master."

He said, calming his horses before bowing to her in the way that was customary here. She hopped down from the cart and returned the gesture in the manner she was used to back home. She caught her mistake too late, cursing silently, but the man just chuckled.

"You're a long way from home, I take it."

"Something like that."

Kuroihi slipped her weapons away and helped him gather and arrange the scrolls, hunks of jade, and jars of lacquer in his cart again. He started dragging the unconscious bodies of the three bandits over, struggling to add them to his load, and Kuroihi cocked her head quizzically.

"Are you planning to sell them?"

It was common to see human slaves in the holds of demon lords and ladies, and she was sure these men had done far worse than they had today to much less deserving people than this man.

"Oh, no no, nothing so wasteful; I was thinking they'd make a nice stew for the road, wouldn't you agree? Plenty of lean meat on those bones."

Kuroihi barely contained her grimace.

"I...suppose..."

She'd eat human if it was given to her and she had no other choice, but it most certainly wasn't her first option. He brushed his hands off as he finished strapping the men down and gagging them, looking quite pleased.

"Tell me, islander, where are you off to? You must have a destination in mind if you've bothered coming this far inland."

Kuroihi contemplated what to tell him for a moment, something inside urging her to take the chance. Her hunches hadn't been wrong yet.

"Indeed. I am in search of someone; a greater demon, I'm assuming."

"Oh? I know of many of the great demons here. In return for your kindness, perhaps I can point you in their direction. Who might they be?"

"Unfortunately, I know only his reputation. He is referred to as 'father', from what I understand, and has some sort of affinity to fire. I've had no luck finding any rumor or clue to his whereabouts."

Recognition flashed across his features.

"I see. I believe I know who you speak of. He is, in fact, the master I serve."

' _Blessed fortune, please stay by my side_.'

"Is that so? Is there, perhaps, any way you would be willing to make an introduction? I was extended an invitation, but given very little more to go on than the city of Shanghai."

She couldn't quite place the look he gave her, something akin to suspicion perhaps.

"Invitation, you say. If I might ask, who extended it to you?"

Kuroihi paused a moment, contemplating whether or not to tell the man of Shoucheng's fate.

"A female with black fire in her hands; I believe she said her name was Shoucheng."

"I see."

He seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, I would be happy to introduce you, however, that is a far greater effort than swatting away a few bandits, and I have not yet completed my task. I would ask for your continued assistance until I return to his fortress in return."

"How much more need you to do?"

"Just a few stops along the road to collect his due tribute. From here to the castle is perhaps a few days."

"Are you expecting resistance or further assault?"

"Entropy abounds here, and one must always guard against the unknown as best they can."

She cocked her head for a moment. He planned to employ her, in a manner of speaking, as a traveling detail. More fighting...just what I was looking for. She thought bitterly, but she couldn't deny that this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"Alright, then. If you can secure me a civil and speedy introduction to your master, then I will guard you and your wares until we arrive safely at his castle."

"Ah! Wonderful!"

He clapped his hands and hopped back onto the bench of his cart, taking up the reigns again and offered her the space next to him, which she took. With a snap of the reigns, they were off, and she was glad for the break from all the walking.

"Please, sir, might I know your name and the name of your master?"

"You may call me Jian, miss. My master's name is for him alone to speak, I'm afraid."

_'That could explain the reactions I've been having. Though, if he is a greater demon like I expect, I can understand him being so controlling. Power through fear; not unlike another I know.'_

There was a sudden pang in her heart, though she couldn't quite place its meaning or cause.

Jian smiled at her. "And what of yours, miss? May I also know your name?"

_'My name?'_

She was faced with a choice now, and she blinked, not sure how to answer him. She was still 'Kuroihi'...right? She had always been such. It wasn't a name, though, and other than for her human days she hadn't needed to rush into finding a new one. No, she decided, she was no longer that thing, that moniker. She had changed so much, was hardly the same demon she'd been before; but there was so much in a name, from the sound and feel of it to the way it was written and the significance therein. Her mind raced from one idea to another that she'd been kicking around over the years, and she kept coming back to the same one; but was it appropriate? Was it a name worthy of her; was she worth of it?

She'd been silent too long, she supposed, for Jian cleared his throat politely to get her attention again.

"Miss?"

She gave him a side-long glance.

"Kintsuke. My name is Misturigou Kintsuke."

"Kintsuke."

He tried the strange sounds on his tongue. It was clear this man hadn't studied the island languages.

"Hmm... I think I like the sound of that."

And he repeated the name several times.

Kuroihi smiled, shifting her eyes to the bright horizon. 

"Yeah, I do, too."


	5. Steed

1404, early-Muromachi Period, late Summer, Musashi

"A wise choice indeed, sire. These are an interesting breed, different from most dragons in that they live in small groups instead of on their own. It's usually a family group or one that will soon become a family, and once chosen they will remain loyal and defend their group unto death. They can be vicious at times, but are usually calm and compliant."

"I see."

Sesshoumaru examined the gathering of twin-headed dragon beasts in the clearing beyond the trees where he stood, waiting. He had no qualms about ridding the one of his choosing of its family group, but he was aware that such an action might alter the temperament of the creature. He had no desire to find himself needing to reign in his steed in a dicey situation, so instead turned his focus to the ones on the edge of the gathering, ones that seemed solitary.

He watched the dragon he preferred wander farther from the rest, one head grazing while the other kept watch. None of the other beasts seemed to notice or care about its distance from them, and from what he could tell it did not care either.

"Jaken. Fetch me the one that wanders on its own."

"M-milord?"

Sesshoumaru gave the imp a cold look. His order had been more than clear. Jaken picked up on his master's irritation and swallowed his argument, not keen to find himself ground into the dirt under his master's boot again.

"Aye, milord, I shall fetch the beast."

Sesshoumaru watched him waddle his way through the tall grass, approaching the creature from the side. He wasn't quite sure what Jaken was thinking as he scrambled his way onto the dragon's back, earning him a glance from the watchful head. Jaken kicked his feet against its hide.

"Come on, now, beast, giddyup!"

Sesshoumaru could tell this would neither be a successful attempt nor end pleasantly for his servant. He circled around to approach the dragon from the front as Jaken continued yap orders at it. A quick flick of its long tail sent the imp sprawling into the grass in front of it and into Sesshoumaru's path.

The heads quickly disregarded Jaken to focus on the daiyoukai that now stood before them.

The imp recovered himself, flailing his arms as he shouted angrily about the dragon's impudence. Sesshoumaru gave him a good kick, paying no mind as Jaken tumbled through the air to land several yards away. The heads growled low at Sesshoumaru, the wild black manes that ran down their necks standing on end. Sesshoumaru growled back, staring the creature down.

It was a contest of jyaki now, Sesshoumaru easily engulfing the two-head in his even as it pushed back with its own. Eventually, it conceded, dropping its heads with a submissive gurgle.

' _Good. It knows its place.'_

By the time Jaken returned, Sesshoumaru was standing with a hand on each snout as the creature took in his scent, the heads still ducked meekly. He let his poison flow, though not enough to injure the creature. It would need to know this smell as well.

"Well done, milord!" the imp gushed, "It would seem the two-head has accepted you as its master!"

"Indeed."

' _Well, that was easy. I fully expected the creature to demand more of a contest.'_

"Once you've broken in this steed, you will never have need to search out another, I assure you!"

Sesshoumaru barely gave the imp's words recognition, turning from the two-head and taking several steps before glancing back at it. The creature glanced between the daiyoukai and its own kind, taking a tentative step towards the former. Sesshoumaru growled deep in his chest, a low and almost soothing sound. The dragon responded favorably, allowing Sesshoumaru to lead it away from the others, Jaken not far behind, but it only followed him so far. A good distance way from the other two-heads, it suddenly snarled at Sesshoumaru, tail high and poised, lightning sparking in its fangs.

Here was the fight he'd expected. The imp cried out in surprise, quickly rushing to place himself protectively between the creature and his master.

"How dare you act in such a manner towards Lord Sesshoumaru! He is your master now, you ungrateful creature!"

"Jaken."

Sesshoumaru said calmly, cracking his claws, eyes locked once more with the dragon's. Jaken glanced back.

"Uh, yes, milord?"

"Move."

***

1404, early-Muromachi Period, late Summer, Shanghai

Mitsurigou Kintsuke could only gaze in awe at the grand structure rising up before her as she and Jian finally arrived at his master's castle. On the banks of Lake Tai, they caught the private ferry to the largest island across the water. They rode together, a series of extra boats carrying the tribute she and Jian had collected for his master following along behind. The air was blessedly free of salt, instead the mild fog smelled and tasted as crisp and clean as fresh snow. She focused more on these things than on the boat ride itself, which was unenjoyable for her. Being around this much water made her nervous.

Feet on solid ground again, she relaxed. A stone path cut through a well-tended orchard, continuing on to crawl its way to the very top of the six-tiered castle. The whole place shone like polished brass, the tops of various towers glinting like adamant. She took in as much as she could as she and Jian slowly scaled their way up. The outside seemed to be constructed almost completely from metal with large and finely detailed braziers on either side at every level, each blazing with a different colored flame. Most she'd never seen before, but there! There was her green; and there, her purple!

As she came to the level baring the brazier with green flames, she branched off, still awestruck. It was surreal, seeing these flames not sparked by her own hand. Jian noticed a moment too late, scrambling down the stairs and across the walkway after her.

"Miss Kintsuke, do be careful those flames are-!"

He choked on his words as she drew back her sleeve, gliding her hand into them. They did not burn her, instead seeping under her claws and along her veins, and she could feel that they were seeking out the fire within her. Her demon blood stirred, rising to meet the call of the flames, to commune with its own, but Jian's voice, quivering with apprehension, drew her back to the present.

She glanced back at him as she shook away the fire that clung to her, realizing she had erred against decorum, and followed him back to the staircase where they continued their ascent.

"My apologies."

She said softly. He didn't respond.

As they came to the final landing, he turned to her, frowning.

"You told me nothing of your affinity for the black flame."

She blinked at him a couple times, gauging her response.

"Forgive me, I was not aware that it would be a matter of immediate concern."

"Only members of the master's bloodline are capable of this. You are able to, and also from the island, as such there is only one conclusion I can draw from these facts. It does not bode well for me that I must now be the one to inform the master of his traitorous daughter's return."

He was probing.

"If you failed to mention it, then you would not be omitting a truth."

She explained simply, for she was not the child of this 'master'. His frown deepened.

"Who are you, exactly, and tell me true this time, half-breed."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather answer that in the presence of your master so I do not have to repeat myself."

Jian scrutinized her thoroughly for a long moment before finally leading her inside to change their slippers and she begrudgingly handed over her tonfa when he demanded them. It wasn't that she needed them; it had just taken forever to find a craft-able material that could withstand her fire. He led her to a waiting area and disappeared behind an intricately decorated set of doors. As she inspected the burned-in designs, she could hear Jian's feet tapping swiftly across a great distance before finally coming to rest. There was silence for a time. Then, she heard them return.

Jian was pale as he opened the door, wiping his hands nervously on his hips before bowing.

"The master will see you."

Kintsuke nodded and followed him into what seemed to be more of a hallway than a room. Everything here was silver and black, glinting with gems and gently scented with mint. Great sheer curtains of silver flanked the walkway, which was bordered in black tiles. Smaller braziers burned angry yellow and red beneath the windows and behind the curtains, creating just enough of a breeze to make the sheets ripple like quicksilver. It was all so soothing, perhaps to compliment-or to counteract- the severe-looking man that sat at the end of the expanse upon a thickly lacquered throne. The might of his jyaki filled the room, an almost suffocating weight, but it did not unsettle her much; after all, she'd felt two others stronger than this, one infused with unspeakable bloodlust.

There was that pang in her heart again…


	6. Back to Bite

As they came before the man on the throne they both bowed, and Jian presented her as the 'honorable Lady of the Island, Mitsurigou Kintsuke.' She liked the sound of that. The man seemed to consider her for a moment before speaking, his voice deep and rough, more in his chest than his throat.

"I welcome you to my fortress, Lady of the Island. My servant informs me that you were extended an official invitation, and it must be so, else you would not have made it beyond the braziers outside. Tell me who invited you."

"She said her name was Shoucheng, your lordship."

"Is that so?"

He didn't sound convinced.

Kintsuke nodded, giving him a quick description of the woman that had invaded her home and slaughtered her friends, and it seemed to convince him. He ran his claws along his tapered length of beard for a moment before rising from his throne to inspect her circling slowly. He tilted his head this way and that, and as he did his bangs shifted, revealing a series of waving lines in a sunburst arc along his brow. She took the chance to get a better look at them as he tilted her face up with a clawed finger for a moment, grunted, and returned to his throne.

Her mother's words echoed in the back of her mind. Could it be…?

"Rejoice, Jian, for this is not Daiyufan. You may live another week yet."

Kintsuke thought Jian would melt with relief.

"You have her eyes; I will give you that, but those ears, half-breed, I suspect they're your father's?"

There was a subdued snarl in his tone.

"The man I met who claimed to be my father had the same ears as mine if that's what you mean."

"And what of your mother?"

Slowly, she drew the pendant out from under her hanfu.

"This is all that's left. She insisted I keep it."

He narrowed his eyes at her and the pendant, and she could feel his internal conflict through the fluctuations of his waves of jyaki. A wicked smirk twisted at the corner of his lips.

"Jian, fetch tea and a putuan, and delay any other business. My grand-daughter and I will be engaged for some time."

***

The man was quiet for a while once they finished their colloquy, letting Kintsuke take her time putting everything in place herself. Daiyufan had been her mother's birth name, which she left behind when she fled the continent with her father. She could not blame Daiyufan for leaving after having been hidden away for years as the family shame; not because of her gender or tainted blood, but because she had not inherited the family skill. Her father, apparently, had been of no notable birth or ability, hence this man's distaste for him.

Kintsuke's grandfather had both been pleased and infuriated to see his daughter go. She had gone behind his back, run off with some peasant, yes; but without a child in the nest, he was able to conceive another. It seemed that affliction was a family trait. When Kintsuke asked why he hadn't simply been rid of Daiyufan, he became quite incensed. "Those filthy mortals may drown their daughters for their nefarious reasons, but this family does no such thing." Kintsuke kept how Daiyufan had done that very thing in her own way to herself.

"I did not mean to insinuate such an act, honorable one. My apologies, I meant no insult."

He simply grunted.

"Might I inquire about your current heir, if they inherited the flame?"

She couldn't quite place the glint in his eyes.

"Yes, she did, though my Shoucheng's fire was…lacking."

Kintsuke blinked as she realized what she had done. She felt no guilt about it, though, and it seemed her grandfather did not want her to, for he was not admonishing her.

"My condolences for your loss, honorable one, though I have to wonder why she would travel to the island in the first place."

"Shoucheng knew she was weak and sought to remedy that. Perhaps she believed her sister would hold some secret to strengthening herself and her flame."

She considered the bone pendant again, and realized. "She thought I was Daiyufan."

"Most likely; Shoucheng was not aware of her sister's disability."

He cocked his head, as though to follow Kintsuke's racing train of thought.

"She implied that my death, rather Daiyufan's death, was your will. Perhaps she misinterpreted something somewhere along the way?"

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yes, she must have," he said pointedly.

Kintsuke nodded, accepting the answer, though she wasn't convinced. A silence fell between them for a short time. Jian, ever silent, refilled her cup of tea.

"I wonder if, perhaps, it was Daiyufan's desire from the beginning to have me come here of my own accord one day, and that is why she left me with the scrap of paper baring this design; as a lead."

She indicated the pendant still in her hand.

"Perhaps, though I don't see how she would have had the care or foresight to arrange such a meeting. She was not a terribly bright female, though apparently neither was Shoucheng."

He sounded bored.

Kintsuke took a moment to consider all she had heard, smelling opportunity skirting around her ankles again. Inside, she smiled. Did she dare?

Why, yes; yes, she did.

"I think, maybe, it was because of these."

She lifted her hand, letting her youki coil into her palm and ignite in harmless black and purple.

"Knowing what they are capable of, she may have done the only thing she thought would be of any help."

She more than had his attention again. His eyes focused on those flames, a mad sort of expression spreading across his face.

"You have them…" he breathed.

Kintsuke met his gaze.

"I can only make these and the green ones that devour whatever they touch, but I saw many other hues in the large braziers outside. This fire can do other things, can't it? Is that what the prism is that Shoucheng wanted so badly; the ability to see and control more than one kind?"

His grin twisted and he sat back with a chuckle.

"Astute, aren't we? You would be correct, though it takes years of dedicated practice to master more than two or three of the hues. If you can produce both the green and the purple, then you must be able to see the prism." 

He stroked his beard again.

"It merely slept inside Daiyufan, then, and passed on to you. Perhaps… Yes, indeed, perhaps she sent you here in her own way; to replace what she took from me when she left."

"What was it she took?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "The same thing you took from me when you killed Shoucheng, half-breed; my heir." 

***

1404, early-Muromachi Period, Autumn, Musashi

Sesshoumaru caught the scent of that damned half-breed again. How it was still alive, he could only speculate, but he seemed to have a little time on his hands today, and so he followed the trail.

It was too easy to keep the spawn from sensing him watched him haul himself up a tree and into the higher branches where fruit still grew. He slowly gathered them into his kimono sleeves, stretching to harvest all he could.

_'Be careful, little hanyou_ ,' Sesshoumaru sneered silently, ' _that you do not lose your footing as you reach so high.'_

This wasn't the first time Sesshoumaru had tormented his 'brother' in such a manner as he flicked his whip of light out to sever the branch the boy balanced on. The sounds of him crashing to the ground, bemoaning his ruined meal pleased this Sesshoumaru up to the point that the boy began to cry. He always cried like this, over the most insignificant things.

His moment of amusement concluded, Sesshoumaru made to depart.

"Just leave me alone already! Why do you keep doing this to me? What did I do?!" the boy sobbed and wailed.

Sesshoumaru paused for only a moment.

_'You stole the destiny of this Sesshoumaru, condemning my honorable father to such a pitiful death. You were born, half-breed; that is what you have done.'_

He took to the sky to escape the piercing sound.

He wondered, though; had the mongrel finally learned to use its nose? To memorize and attribute scents? On one hand, Sesshoumaru wasn't surprised it had taken this long; on the other hand, it infuriated him. Half-breed or no, the blood of his great and honorable father ran through the boy's veins. He should have been further developed by this point, but he was just too simple, too weak. There was far too much human in his nature, quite unlike…

Sesshoumaru blinked.

Unlike…who?

He couldn't remember. He knew the point of comparison existed, but he could not recall what it was. It bothered him greatly; the inexplicable need to remember causing an uncomfortable sensation in his chest. He analyzed it as he continued to wrack his brain for who or what it was he'd tried to compare the boy to.

As he sat quiet and pensive under the waxing moon, Jaken grew restless, and concerned, fretting noisily despite Sesshoumaru's demand for the imp to leave him be. It seemed he was worried about this Sesshoumaru, anxious to ease whatever burden he was carrying. Equally eager to be rid of him, Sesshoumaru sent Jaken on a needless errand to fetch water from the nearby river, which the imp waddled hastily off to do.

Sesshoumaru let the blessed silence envelop him, finding solace in the silvery glow high above him. What was it he was forgetting? There was a memory, faint and blurred, but it was there, buried somewhere under his unwavering focus and iron will. Could one smell a memory? He understood that it was all in his head for the smell was incomplete.

Still, it brought him a strange comfort, this ghostly rich and molten scent…


	7. Trapped

1404 early-Muromachi Period, Autumn, Shanghai

Kintsuke had been given a room and an attendant, quickly settled comfortably in one of the guest quarters. She'd also been given a choice to make. She could either step into the role both Daiyufan and Shoucheng had been meant to fill as heir to the family, or she could hunt down a worthy female for her grandfather to breed. The first option was far more complicated than a simple 'yes' or 'no' for her; and why his current female was not agreeable enough for the task, she could not ask, for that would be rude. She did wonder, though…

Aside from her suspicions, she found her stay comfortable and the other demons here fairly agreeable. Her room was well furnished, warm, soft, and inviting, sharing the same gentle hint of mint which permeated the entire castle, and which Kintsuke found she enjoyed. Gentle waves of familiar youki flowed soothingly from the numerous braziers inside the castle and out, and the weather on the island was constant and comfortable.

Most notable for her more immediately was the reliable presence of food. After only a couple days she could already see her body recovering from the slow starvation she'd been enduring, and by the end of the week, she had her healthy glow back. Indeed, she couldn't find anything really to complain about in this place, however, it was time for a day trip away. That time was upon her again.

She informed the attendant she'd been assigned that she would be stepping away from the castle for the day, but would remain close by, and made her way out and down the tower of stairs. On the third level, she began to feel it, a repelling sensation that urged her back to the higher levels. The further down she went, the stronger it became.

' _Odd_ ,' she thought absently.

Here on the final step it felt the strongest, and her entire body buzzed with electricity, making her hair stand on end. Slowly, cautiously, on a hunch, she reached her hand closer to that force that repelled her and met solid, insistent resistance that crackled angrily.

' _A barrier…to keep people in?'_

She blinked at the invisible wall for a moment before glancing back to examine the outside of the castle, as if something there would offer her a hint. Her attendant had followed her, and now meekly explained to her that it was the master's divine will that Kintsuke remain in the castle for the time being. She simply nodded and dismissed the female.

She vaguely remembered Shoucheng mentioning something about how this 'father', Kintsuke's grandfather, controlled the fates of all who wielded the black flames. Was this one of the ways he did it? Was this his doing? She noted that one of the large braziers was burning higher than the rest, its black flames tinged here and there with a pinkish hue; and it made her smile inside.

_'I believe I understand now. This must be one of the many abilities one can train their fire to have.'_

She was intrigued by the idea, wondering how exactly that would work, but the thoughts were quickly drowned out by a surge of panic. She couldn't leave... She was trapped in this place now. The full implications of that settled heavily on her shoulders and fear shot through her, frigid and hollowing, for the first time in decades.

Slowly, almost dazed from the near-shock, she made her way back to her room, fighting to maintain some measure of calm. There, she released the layers of decorative screens that sectioned off the innermost chamber of her quarters where her bed was set up and seated herself on it, blinking through the jumble of thoughts and emotions.

Part of her began to panic, the other part began sorting through excuses to give her grandfather to let her leave. Perhaps his permission was all that was required to make it past the barrier. She was certain she could escape any detail he sent along with her. Yes, that was her best option, she was sure, but what to say?

She was still deep in thought sometime later when her assigned attendant meekly informed her that the master had requested her presence.

Here's my chance. She thought as she checked her appearance in the looking glass and followed her attendant out to one of the patios where her grandfather sat inspecting his afternoon meal, looking quite unimpressed. She announced herself and waited, for it would be rude of her to continue speaking until she was recognized, except he was taking his dear sweet time with that part.

Finally, he noticed her, his lips twisting into a grin which brought back memories that almost made her cringe. His tone was amused, but not warm as he spoke.

"Earlier, you tried to leave, did you not?"

She licked her lips.

"I did attempt to step away from the castle, yes."

"Then you are now aware that you are unable to do so. You see, it is my desire that you remain here, and so shall it be until the time I desire otherwise. If there is something outside that you require, the servants will fetch it. That is their place, yours is to come to a decision. This is your home until you do."

His note of finality and the dismissive wave of his hand left her no room for response or argument. Quietly, she returned to her room, settling herself again on her bed.

_'I'm trapped_ ,' she thought, staring at her feet. ' _There's no getting around it until… I'm trapped, oh gods, I'm trapped here!'_

Panic gripped her tighter and tighter with every iteration.

_'I'm trapped. I'm trapped!'_

She paced the perimeter of her bed-chamber, slowly wringing her hands.

_'Trapped. Trapped! Trapped!!'_

The demon in her stirred, feeding on her suffocating anxiety as she pressed herself against the solid frame of her bed, sinking slowly to the floor. Her eyes were wild and mad, and she nearly hyperventilated as she tried to make herself as small as she could against the floor.

_'I'm trapped! I- I'm- No, I can't. Trapped. No! No, get a grip! This isn't how we survive! You're stronger than this, you've been through far worse. This isn't the end; it's going to be okay. It's okay. You're okay.'_

Somehow, she managed a tenuous control of her demeanor again, sitting back up and smoothing at her hair. Ridiculous, wasn't it; how such a simple thing had nearly given her a complete meltdown. A chuckle tickled at the back of her throat and she couldn't stop it from falling out into a full laugh. It was an empty sound, cynical, and fake.

_'Something amuse you, hanyou?'_

The memory echoed like the splash of cold water she so needed right now. There was a fondness attached to this memory hidden beneath the ice-glazed honey. This one memory was so precious somehow, but she couldn't quite remember. Still, it was stupid, she thought, that Sesshoumaru of all people would surface in the chaos of her mind to save her from herself. Aside from a passing notion, she hadn't really thought of him in…how long? It felt like forever; and it'd been even longer since she'd seen him, bloodlust snarling across his delicate features in the snow; livid, virulent, primal, perfect.

There was that damned pang in her chest again.

***

It had all been a bad dream, she convinced herself as she made her way down for dinner with her grandfather. There was no other way she could register what she had experienced in this place that day. The animal side of her human nature had been absolutely frenzied with terror. Everything that she had found pleasant and soothing before now screamed 'danger', even though she was consciously aware that the walls were not actually going to begin spawning horrid creatures to devour her, it didn't keep her paranoia from trying to convince her otherwise. Sesshoumaru's voice had only worked the once, and she almost felt abandoned in the ineffectual silence.

She pushed the jumble of excess thoughts from her mind, maintaining her poise through dinner. Her grandfather seemed utterly unconcerned that she'd sequestered away in her room for the better part of the day, unseen or heard from. Indeed, the only thing he even said to her was to question whether or not she'd come to a decision. He was clearly dissatisfied with her answer of 'no', and urged her to come to one soon.

The next day was the same, and she gave him the same answer; 'no'.

Each day he asked, and she gave the same answer, and each day he grew more agitated until she was sure he would launch across the table to sink his claws into her throat.

"I do not have time for your ridiculous dithering!" he nearly shouted; and she knew she could delay no longer.

She'd have to have an answer for him in the morning, or he might actually do her a harm.

She had an idea, actually, a blending of the two options he'd given her. She would step into the role of heir for the time being, training in the ways and skills of the aristocracy and fire while searching in her spare time for a female that suited him. This way, whether through Kintsuke's inability to find him a female or the birth of another, he would have his heir.

Kintsuke greatly preferred the latter, for it meant she would be able to return to her island. She was certain it would take some convincing, but that she would eventually make him agree; though exactly how to coerce someone like her grandfather into this dubious at best solution, she was not quite sure.

…Yet.


	8. Caveat

1404 early-Muromachi Period, Autumn, Shanghai

Kintsuke worded her proposal carefully, mindful of the deepening scowl on her grandfather's face. Suddenly, he laughed, but he did not sound amused.

"It must be a family trait, I suppose, this brazenness. I'm curious to know how you've survived all these years in such manner; a petty half-breed with barely any claws of its own gallivanting about as though it were a creature of any significance. Surely some true demon or other should have crushed you under-foot for your impudence by now, and yet."

Kintsuke swallowed down the urge to smile.

' _Oh, how they tried…'_

He stroked at his mustache for a moment, continuing to size her up before seeming to come to a decision.

"This…artifice of yours… you realize it's only feasible if you are able to master the other hues, I'm sure."

Kintsuke simply nodded. He saw right through her, as she expected he would.

"Of course, that is your plan. That is your profit in this, further knowledge and training."

He mused.

"Yes. Well, it could be entertaining, I suppose. Either way, it would be a waste not to at least examine the potential, with so few of us left."

She resisted the urge to speak, or even to move, lest she alter his temperament. He was coming around, she felt, slowly, but surely, like a wolf inspecting a bone. She waited patiently as he considered. One day, two days, three; finally, he acceded. Should she prove herself capable of harnessing another hue, he would accept her proposal.

Her trials began almost immediately. He tested her first for basic combat abilities with her green and purple flames. To say he considered them lacking would be kind, and he gladly showed her how it was supposed to be done with his own flames, nearly running her ragged as she danced and tumbled out of reach of the ravenous green. She tried to counter with her own, to block with tangible purple, but she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to do anything but deflect.

He drove her back, and she stumbled against one of the braziers marking the combat circle, filled with natural red and yellow fire. She forgot to reach out to those flames, to taint them with her youki as she caught herself hands-first in its bed of coals. She was too slow to save her hanfu from them, throwing herself back and away as she cradled her charred hands to her belly.

She heard her grandfather guffaw, and he mistook her expression of pain for one of humility.

"Do not be shamed," he laughed, "Daiyufan wasn't fireproof, either."

She fought the urge to narrow her eyes at his gleeful countenance; he was having far too much fun with this for her taste.

***

1407 mid-Muromachi Period, Winter, Shanghai

It had taken Kintsuke every bit of three years to bring herself to the level her grandfather demanded and become acquainted with her new hue. This one was blue, calm and almost cool; a neutralizing flame that ate away at such toxic things as shouki or miasma. It wasn't one that reached terribly far, only a few feet at most, and she found that depending on the strength of what she was dissolving away, the fire consumed varying amounts of her energy.

She was appalled by how little she actually understood of her own powers, and equally amazed that she had managed to make it this far on her own, considering. So many shades of power… As she came to understand them, to 'see' the prism more clearly, she found she could no longer hold a grudge against Shoucheng for desiring it so badly; though she still had no regrets about killing the woman. All was fair in the struggle to survive, after all.

One day, she thought to herself, I will truly be a force to be reckoned with. She let her mind wander through the lush forest that was her future. She had grown so much, and she felt that even without the mastery of any other hues, there was nothing now that she couldn't do. She could live alone if she so chose; she could establish a humble domain to lord over if it pleased her; she could settle nowhere and instead travel on a whim. In fact, there was nothing she could conceive of that she desired or would require which was beyond her ability to obtain.

The road before her continued to stretch on beyond the distance she could, at this moment, perceive. She knew, too, that it was filled with perils she could not yet fathom, but with every beat of her heart, every twinge of pain and fatigue, every time she dragged herself again from the floor, her power only increased and she was that much closer to fulfilling her dreams.

Unbeknownst to the little hanyou, her grandfather saw it, too; and it was exactly what he wanted.

***

Musashi

Sesshoumaru examined the still-healing wounds on his torso from his battle earlier in the day. The hot water of the spring he'd found stung something fierce, but it eased the stiffness and fatigue from his muscles, so he endured it. Hot springs were an uncommon luxury in his travels, and he found no reason to deny himself their substantial rejuvenating benefits.

He was making slow progress in his hunt for his father's tomb, and even slower progress in furthering his own power. If he was honest, he was angry with himself for it. Jaken, of course, noticed nothing, or at the very least said nothing. The imp seemed to believe every word spoken and every choice made was the result of some masterful deduction and intent on Sesshoumaru's part; a well-behaved vassal, indeed.

' _When he has the good sense to be silent.'_

He slipped under the water one final time and hoisted from the pool, ensuring the imp was not around before bounding easily into the chilly clouds, releasing his guise to run among them in his true form until his fur was smooth and dry. The cold didn't bother him much, and this far up, he could see for miles; across the plains and into the snow-covered mountains.

He could even spot the picketed fortress he knew belonged to the taijiya, a group of humans well-trained in the arts of slaying demons. His father had been on benevolent terms with them when he was alive, and while Sesshoumaru still could not fathom why he, a superior demon of great age and skill, need be mindful of such upstarts, neither did he wish to test their firmly-established reputation of being the finest slayers in Musashi.

He alighted down to the spring once more, dressing and collecting his entourage before making his way towards the northern mountains just beyond the edge of his personal territory. There was a particular Tengu prince he needed to have words with.


	9. Search

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the humanoid Murder that surrounded him, each a jumble of wings and talons and partial beaks save for one, who stood before him, poised and clad delicately in shimmering black feathers and flowing black silks. The leader, in turn, fixed his equally black eyes on the dog before him, amused that the creature had ventured this far into the Tengu territory.

"You are the one they call Lord Sesshoumaru of the Inu Clan, are you not?" He asked coolly.

Sesshoumaru nodded slightly.

"And you are Commander Hiken of the Tengu."

"Then we know each other. Wonderful. I do hope you've found my home...comfortable, despite the weather."

They were empty words, half-hearted gestures in keeping with the tenuous vestige of propriety they were all expected to maintain at first. Sesshoumaru mostly ignored them.

"It is my understanding that Tengu are both crafty and cunning creatures, similar to Kitsune in that you have a taste for riddles and the like. Have I been correctly informed?"

There was a round of caw-like laughter and Hiken chuckled.

"Something like that, yes, why do you ask? Have you a request of me and my people?"

Hiken's entire face pulled into a mocking grin.

"Or is it, rather, you've stumbled onto something your dull canid brain can't wrap itself around?"

There was another round of laughter. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and let the insult pass. It was juvenile, and he had things to accomplish here. Instead, he crossed his arms leisurely into his sleeves, maintaining his stoic expression.

"Seeing, but never seen; protected, but unknown by its protector."

"Hm. That's a good one, pup. Did you come up with it yourself?"

Sesshoumaru let his jyaki weigh down on them all as he narrowed his eyes once more at their master. Hiken cocked his head in a bird-like fashion, seeming to catch the hint. He blinked those glittering black eyes as he repeated the riddle back, all humor suddenly gone.

"It is ambiguous and with no context. What is it referring to?"

"You are either capable of parsing it or you are not; or am I mistaken in believing there is not a riddle or puzzle the Tengu can solve?"

Sesshoumaru allowed himself the subtle hint of a smile. Hiken pursed his lips.

"Our reputation is well earned, however, the more information we are given, the quicker we can give you an answer."

Sesshoumaru gauged his response carefully. "A location of interest to me."

"Location? You are certain?"

Sesshoumaru simply blinked at the needless question.

Hiken shrugged slightly. "If you're sure. Let us meditate on this for a time."

"How long do you require?"

Hiken smiled.

"We'll find you when we're finished."

Sesshoumaru did not much care for that answer but had no choice but to accept it for the moment. He left as silently as he had arrived, joining his traveling party shortly before sundown where he'd left them some miles away from the Tengu border.

"Milord! Milord! The staff!!"

Jaken squawked almost as soon as Sesshoumaru appeared.

"What of it?"

"It's changed position; the old man faces in a new direction once again!"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes yet again as he roused A-Un and settled into the saddle on his back.

"Then we shall travel that way. Where does it point?"

"Towards the Sheep-Monkey, my lord. We have yet to search there."

"Indeed."

_'Someone is moving the tomb; why else would the staff change direction; but how does a gravesite move? Should it not be stationary? Perhaps this is one of father's tricks, a tactic to keep his resting place a secret from this Sesshoumaru. Determined, even in death, father, aren't you?'_

***

1418 mid-Muromachi Period, Spring, Shanghai

Kintsuke gagged and coughed, her burning eyes squinting hard against the noxious fumes she could no longer endure and had not been able to neutralize. Fingers and hands going numb, she struggled to her haul herself out of the pit, ignoring her grandfather's amused chuckle as she flopped on the ground like a landed fish, gasping for air in a similar manner.

"Oh, oh yes, I was correct. This is very entertaining. Once more, Kintsuke, if you please, but like you mean it this time. You will not improve if you do not put everything you have behind your efforts."

She resisted the urge to shoot daggers at him with her eyes, focusing instead on recovering from her failed attempt to strengthen her blue and black flames. Her eyes still burned, watering horribly, her throat was dry, and ever so slowly she was regaining feeling in her extremities. This batch of miasma was particularly effective.

The creatures that spewed it looked harmless enough, almost cute; small and almost reptilian, but it was a deception. Three of the things skittered about at the bottom of the pit, filling themselves with air and spewing out more of the poisonous gas they required to live. As she watched them, still choking and sniffling, they seemed to give her taunting glances, their beady eyes glinting up at her.

_'Don't get comfortable, you little shits, I am not giving up that easily.'_

As soon as she was ready, she flexed her youki, testing how much she had left, and leaped back down into the pit. Blue and black flames billowed and swathed her in their harmless glow, eating away at the cloud of poison that now surrounded her. She was holding her own, barely keeping the fumes away and neutralizing the air around her so she could breathe and see, but again the creatures simply belched out more and she faltered, her flames flickering as they slowly died. Once more, she dragged herself out of the pit, gasping and hacking, her entire body tingling from the effects of the gases.

"Tch."

Her grandfather strode over, grabbing her by the back of her hanfu and tossing again into the pit.

"You're not thinking correctly," was the only hint he offered.

He stood at the edge, watching from above as Kintsuke landed hard on her side and again fell into a choking fit, quickly blinded as her eyes squeezed shut and watered.

The creatures skittered and chirped, quickly immersing her in a concentration of their fumes, and Kintsuke struggled to find the focus to push her fire out against it. Her fingertips sparked green; no, that wasn't right. They sparked purple; no, that wasn't it either! A faint blue flickered for a split second, and then again, lasting only as long as she had youki to spare.

She held the flames to her face, desperate for clean air, but those few seconds weren't enough. She was frantic now, out of fire, out of fuel, and she was starting to drown in the miasma. Her inner demon began to panic as she realized she was out of options. She might actually die here.

' _No! There has to be a way; something, anything!'_

Her arms and legs were unresponsive, tingling numbness creeping its way into her belly and shoulders, dangerously close to her heart. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the answer hit her, screaming just as loud as her inner demon was, desperate to save herself. She could see them in a way, feel the dancing bits of youki that permeated this gas. They resonated the same way the natural fires did, the power signatures almost like a song to her senses.

The answer struck her like lightning, and she cursed having taken so long to find it.

Everything was going dark, her head was swimming; she would beat herself up about it after she escaped. She smacked it on the floor of the pit, letting the pain bring her to focus just long enough to determine the major notes of the thrumming demonic energy around her and warp the last bits of her own that she could muster to resonate as close to opposite those 'notes'. Her eyes began bleeding red under their protective lids as she struggled, burning in a different manner as her fire escaped along the only channel it could find. Red became blue, jolting out desperately to ignite the miasma.

The last thing she saw was an explosion of her blue and black, the force slamming her against the side of the pit where she finally blacked out.


	10. Warning

Somewhere, deep inside, Kintsuke knew she was dreaming, but it didn't keep all of this from feeling real…

~~~~

_She stood silently on a cliff, surrounded by a thick fog that chilled her to the bone; heavy, constricting, urging her forward and she moved to follow._

_The creaking of a rope bridge..._

_The fog cleared to show her the bridge stretching across a vast ravine. Dark shapes rose up on the other side, shifting, shapeless and without sound, but she knew what they were._

_The home that she desired, the walls tall and solid and strong; safe._

_Her friends and children, well-fed and happy, dancing wild and free._

_Her mate; powerful, honorable, loyal; respecting and cherishing her, needing her, as much as she did him._

_The bridge creaked again, taunting. It was there, waiting for her. All she had to do was cross._

_The wood planks creaked beneath her feet, the ropes whining in protest and warning._

_She could feel the thing far below her, rousing from its sleep in the bowls of the ravine. It could taste her, and somehow she knew that it wanted her._

_She had to hurry. It was coming for her._

_The ropes twisted, fibers snapping as the planks splintered under her feet._

_She had to hurry._

_The darkness rose from below, the bridge shattering completely._

_The rousing thing salivated, its ravenous maw gaping open to consume her as she fell._

~~~~

Kintsuke jerked awake, heart racing, her breath ragged. Her servant flinched and pulled away from dabbing her face with a cool cloth, letting her mistress orient herself. Kintsuke's mind continued to race, trying to make sense of where she was, what she'd seen.

' _What… what the hell was that about?'_

"My lady, are...you well?" Her servant asked meekly, still keeping her distance.

Slowly, Kintsuke sat up. She was in her room, in her bed, cleaned and dressed in her bedclothes. It had been a dream, every bit of it; her home, her family and friends, her mate; the thing…

_'Why? I've never had nightmares like this before... Why now?'_

"...My lady?" Her servant ventured again.

Kintsuke didn't bother looking at her, her voice soft as she closed her eyes to reinforce her tenuous calm.

"Tea, please, Xia Li."

The woman nodded and left.

For some reason, she felt the sudden solitude more keenly than before, and she pulled her knees up to her chest as she glanced around her empty room. She wanted to reach out, to pull close to her someone, anyone, to tell her everything was okay, but there was no one.

She lay her forehead on her knees, letting her hair so matted with sweat fall in curtains of ivory to hide her and the ignoble sight of her silent sobbing, her entire body trembling with a sudden chill.

Her mind was empty, still falling into that ravine. Over and over she saw it, watched herself tumble down into the darkness. Was it a warning? Was it her own fear from knowing that no matter how strong she became, there would always be something more powerful out there? She took up the comb she kept at her bedside and picked through a lock of hair as she focused on breathing. The simple task was somehow comforting to her, and slowly her body calmed its trembling.

***

Kintsuke listened absently as her grandfather assessed her progress. The dream had left her with a disturbing sense of unease, though it wasn't something she would talk about. It would be seen as a weakness, and that was not something she could afford right now.

She chewed lightly on the soft fish-like meat that was their dinner as he continued, the conversation slowly morphing back around to the second part of the deal she'd made with him. She had made significant progress with her fire by this point, enough that her grandfather was willing to finally allow her to venture away from the castle to seek out a breeding female for him; with an escort of course.

Kintsuke was more than happy to finally be able to leave this place. Even for a demon, ten years was enough to give someone cabin fever. As she pulled her equipment from where it had been tucked away, she found the feel of her dragon skin suit just as amazing as the first day she'd received it from the castle smiths so long ago. She did her best to push the lingering unease from her dream away as she strapped on her armor once again, taking a moment to familiarize herself with her tonfa before slipping into her hanfu again and going to meet her party.

At the bottom of the grand staircase, her grandfather waited to see her off. As she bade him farewell, he smiled. "I wish you fortune in your endeavor, Kintsuke. Do not stay away too long."

"Of course, grandfather."

His face twisted into a smirk as he leaned to whisper in her ear. It twitched from the proximity, her unease growing. "None may know my name whom I have not personally told. To share it is to consign yourself to death; you understand this, yes?"

She nodded again, silent as he whispered his name to her and stepped away, waving her off to her traveling detail and departed.

_'Zheng, huh?_ ' For some reason, just the sound of it made her uncomfortable.


	11. Bloodlust

1433, mid-Muromachi Period, Autumn, Musashi

Sesshoumaru remained perfectly still as he listened carefully to the conversation happening just beyond the tree line. The demons Jaken was speaking with would have no clue he was there, thinking only that they were trading information with a tiny loremaster of sorts. The stories they shared filled in the final pieces of the fractured rumor he'd been chasing for months now, and as they left he also turned to leave, knowing now where he must go.

Jaken scrambled to catch up, only barely finding a handhold on A-Un's tail as the three of them rose swiftly into the sky.

"Milord, where are we off to?"

"Is it not clear?"

Sesshoumaru didn't bother glaring at his often mindless vassal, focused solely on his target; a gravesite in the wilds, rumored to be haunted as though by demons, and it was in the direction the nintoujou indicated. This could be it, the end of all his wandering, his searching.

The place was, indeed, remote, with only a small colony of humans nearby, no doubt to make use of the rich fields and clear river. Sesshoumaru gave the stones of the gravesite a cursory examination, determining that they were of the proper age to qualify. The earth around the grave was clean and well-tended, a bundle of dried flowers set neatly at the base along with a variety of sutras and offerings. He narrowed his eyes.

Flowers are a human tradition, they do not belong on a demon's memorial, he sneered. Then again, knowing his father's particular weakness, perhaps it was only disgustingly appropriate in some way.

Somehow he knew before Jaken even set the staff against the stones that the woman's head would sound, indicating this was not the grave he sought. The woman's cry frustrated him, as did Jaken's indignant sputtering and curses, his groveling apologies.

Sesshoumaru clenched his fists against his growing rage until his claws bit into his skin.

_'Why? WHY, father? I was your first-born, your heir! Why have you treated me so? Why do you continue to evade and taunt this Sesshoumaru in such a way? I seek only what is rightfully mine, yet even in death you continue to deny me! Why?! ANSWER ME!'_

He knew there would be none, for the dead did not speak.

He barely registered Jaken's call, the sounds of people approaching. Their stench drew him from his thoughts.

Humans.

He slid his golden eyes to consider them with a piercing gaze, his demon blood beginning to boil as they tried to order him away, threatening him with their pathetic farming tools and rusted swords.

"Begone, all of you! Or you will suffer the wrath of my great and mighty lord!" the imp squawked.

"This is our land! You've no right to be here!" the humans snapped back.

"Call the headman!"

"Apparitions at the gravesite! Someone fetch the priestess!"

"I told you this thing was haunted!"

Their sounds rose, like chittering rats, but through it his ears honed in on a single sound; the cries of a frightened whelp. His eyes found the source almost immediately, its mother cradling the thing and shushing it in equal terror.

Something about the sight of the pair made him snap. His eyes bled red, his demon nature demanding blood, demanding suffering and death to quench his rage.

His youki spilled from his fingertips into his whip and he snapped it to life; the woman was the first to go. The horrified and livid screams as he continued the stroke, slicing apart the men before him, pleased him deeply.

"Demons!"

"Run! Run for your lives!"

"Call the priestess! Someone!"

The remaining few fled back toward their colony, and Sesshoumaru gave easy chase.

He cracked his claws, relishing the sensations and sounds; warm and slick, crunching and snapping and tearing, as he gutted, shredded, and dismembered each and every last one of them.

Inside the colony now, he felt the petty surge of protective reiki from the local miko push at him like little more than a gentle spring breeze; she was challenging him. That one he saved for last, easily avoiding her pitifully aimed arrows and flimsy sutras.

With a final slash, it was finally silent. The air was thick with all the things that soothed him; blood, terror, suffering, despair. He breathed deeply, finally calming even as the miko screamed curses at him.

She leveled another arrow in his direction. He was certain her insignificant power would have no effect on him, but it was the principle of the matter. How dare she raise a weapon at him!

"Foolish wench…"

He was a blur, flicking his claws up to impale her through her belly and into her chest, drinking in the medley of expression and sound as she melted from the inside out on his poison claws.

As the silence fell once more, he took a moment to examine his work. The area was littered with mutilated bodies and their various parts, the ground slick in some places with blood and viscera. His claws dripped crimson, flecks of it splattered across the front of his armor and kimono.

_'What a mess,'_ he thought as he slowly licked his claws clean.

The flavor was exquisite, addictive, and he savored every last drop.

***

1434, mid-Muromachi Period, Spring

Sesshoumaru was letting his mind wander a bit this morning, contemplating which lead to follow next when Jaken's voice sounded behind him.

"Milord, look; samurai. Perhaps returning from battle."

"Hm?"

Sesshoumaru glanced up at the long rows of soldiers marching in line some distance down his path, led by, what he assumed was, their General on a grand black horse. They bore no crest he was familiar with and were in every way common and dismissible. He paused as the General did, simply blinking up at the man as he demanded Sesshoumaru make way.

"Move," he said simply.

The man opened his ghastly mouth to argue, but a swipe of Sesshoumaru's claws silenced him. The men at the front recoiled at first as their leader's head-less body toppled off his horse and the beast fled with a panicked whinny, but quickly angled their spears at him, bent on revenge.

"Always so barbaric."

Sesshoumaru allowed himself a slight smile as he showered them in his poison, pleased by the screams their comrades made as they dissolved into nothing. Some continued to contest him, meeting the same fate, but the rest seemed to make sense of the situation, abandoning the path and leaving the way clear for this Sesshoumaru to continue.

Jaken guffawed as he waddled along behind him.

"Well done, milord! It would have been easier for them if they had only heeded your words in the first place. Such arrogance these warriors have."

***

1435, mid-Muromachi Period, Summer

Jaken remained as silent as he possibly could, loath to draw his master's murderous attention. It did not frighten or disturb him, the slaughtering, the evil his master committed as they traveled, but he certainly did not wish to be the target of any more of it than he already endured.

He poked at the small lizard he had skewered near the fire, testing if it was ready to eat and finding it needed more time. His master was perched nearby on a flat rock, an arm hanging from his drawn-up knee as he gazed up in his usual manner at the full moon.

Just what Lord Sesshoumaru's fascination with it was, Jaken could only guess. Was it a dog thing? Did the moon, particularly the full moon, hold some significance for his master? Or was Jaken overthinking it all, and the moon was simply a convenient place for Lord Sesshoumaru to settle his gaze as he thought? Whatever the reason, Jaken wasn't about to disturb him.

The night wore on, and finally, Lord Sesshoumaru turned his gaze back down to the earth. He must have worked through whatever contemplations he had, and now pulled a small comb from its pocket inside his kimono, drawing it through the tangled mass of his silvery hair.

Jaken felt uneasy.

Such a thing should have been a servant's task, his task, and yet Lord Sesshoumaru had never allowed him to even touch his hair. It was odd, certainly, but he wrote it off as one of his master's many quirks and continued biding his time, judging when Lord Sesshoumaru would be most receptive to his questions before venturing.

"Um..Milord?"

"What."

His tone was the usual cold and disinterested.

"I was wondering, sire, and I know it is not the place of a servant to question, but, what exactly is it about your father's sword that makes it so desirable to you?"

The lord's eyes opened to slits, almost as though he were remembering something. Jaken marveled silently once more at his master's perfection and beauty.

"The Tessaiga is capable of great feats of power, even slaying one hundred opponents in a single stroke."

Jaken gawked.

"The T-tessaiga?! I have heard tales of the sword, so then it is real! I had no idea your honorable father was the one in possession of it. Many demons have sought it as well, haven't they, and they all met their doom."

"Indeed, it is so." 

"I understand why you desire it so much now. Such a magnificent weapon, what will you do with it?"

"I will ascend to a far greater power than I currently am, and forge for myself an empire."

"Of course! I should have already known. It is only your proper place."

Sesshoumaru gave no response.

"Um… Tell me, sire, once your empire is forged, what role might I play?"

"You intend to serve me for so long?"

"But, of course! I owe you my very life! I will stand dutifully by your side until the end of time if you so desire."

Sesshoumaru seemed to consider him with those honey-gold eyes, as icy as ever.

"Hn."

Jaken fell silent. Usually, this meant the conversation was over, and he had come to accept that sometimes Sesshoumaru simply did not answer him; as was his right, after all.

"Perhaps," Lord Sesshoumaru mused, and Jaken perked to listen, hopeful, "I might find the service of a Prime Minister useful at that time."


	12. Burn

1438 mid-Muromachi Period, Autumn, Musashi

_'…This path of conquest, as you call it, is not one of cruelty…These idiosyncrasies of yours are not those of a greater demon or superior lord…'_

Sesshoumaru wondered absently as he inspected his crimson-stained claws why his father's words had chosen this moment to haunt him. Gazing over the battlefield freshly bathed in blood and death, he could find no reason in them. A conqueror slew his enemies and all those that stood in his way; that was simply how things worked, how the order was maintained. To some, like his father, murder could be considered cruel, but to Sesshoumaru, it was just another tool, and it was one he was infinitely skilled with. He'd lost count of how many bands of warriors and human colonies he'd cleared away as he continued to scour the land, but at the end of the day it mattered little to him.

The humans were ignorant of anything he needed to know, their hovels held nothing he wanted or could make use of; useless, vulgar, repulsive creatures, all of them, and so they'd been removed from his path. It was simply in his nature to destroy, to carve away at the world until it fit the shape that suited him. There was no changing this; and even if there was, he saw no reason to try.

Still, his father's words echoed...

"A most excellent victory as always, Lord Sesshoumaru! Er…Milord, where are we off to now?"

Sesshoumaru turned away to head elsewhere, and Jaken scrambled to keep up. Sesshoumaru did not answer, not quite sure himself just where he was going. All he knew was he needed to leave. Now, with the battlefield left far behind them, something was pulling him in a particular direction, and so that was the way he went. Slowly the landscape became familiar to him, and as he crested the hill to examine the contents of the shallow valley, he realized just where he was. He made his way gradually down to inspect what was left.

The trees that had once stood as a crisply preened grove now stretched and drooped in their wild fashions; beyond them, a crumbling wall and dilapidated castle told the tale of decades of neglect. The front gates had long been torn away, the corner yagura towers missing great sections of tile and wall, and the courtyard he now entered was in a despicable state of disarray. Had Sesshoumaru not spent most of his early years here, even he would not have recognized what had once been the castle-base of the great and terrible Inu no Taishou.

The stench of lesser demons permeated the air, telling Sesshoumaru the story of how they'd found this place abandoned and made a nest of it. It seemed that currently, however, they were not here.

_'Perhaps away to hunt. Either way.'_

"Remain here." He ordered Jaken

Sesshoumaru continued his way across the yard and into the halls. The urging that had drawn him here still pulled, and he continued to follow it. It was darker inside than he remembered, though with his demon eyes it was no hindrance. The walls were slashed and splattered, the wood beneath his feet was warped and rotting, weak in several places, and he had to float to avoid falling through in several times when it broke under his weight; great holes in the roof and floors above let in pools of sunlight in which grew various weeds and wildflowers, twisting up through the ruined floor.

Sesshoumaru found the way back to his old quarters easily enough, more from muscle memory than actual recollection, and he was unsurprised to find the shouji doors broken in and collapsed, the tatami mats splotched with decay and mold. Wildflowers also grew up through the mats here, mostly near the window which was now missing its closable slats.

Though it was hardly recognizable, he could see it perfectly as it had once been in his mind's eye, his gaze settling on the spot where he'd always kept his zabuton cushion. He'd made many decisions in that spot, pondered and parsed through his various inklings and wonderments, but there was one, in particular, that ate away at the edge of his memory now.

He'd cast something away from himself in that spot once, a long time ago, something he'd very much wanted to keep. Deep inside, the bundle of sentiment he'd sealed away in ice all those years ago tried to stir, but he narrowed his eyes and turned from the scene, silencing it once more.

He would let no more of these memories return; he would not be distracted.

He couldn't ignore, however, the sensation of something just beyond his reach, ghostly and formless and…struggling. It struggled and that unsettled him. Sesshoumaru clenched his fist against the fleeting consciousness that had plagued him intermittently for as long as he could remember. Being here only seemed to make it worse, so he turned his focus elsewhere, wandering his way back out to the courtyard.

He called to Jaken and was unsurprised when he found the nintoujou had no reaction in this place. Once again, his father's tomb evaded him. He hadn't truly expected to find anything here, had he? After all, he'd traveled here on a whim, not on any scrap of evidence that there was anything to be found. He chided himself for still being so naïve, ignoring Jaken's usual groveling apologies.

Sesshoumaru considered the castle for a moment and all it had represented; not only to himself but to those that had lived and served here. He'd fancied that at least a few of the servants would have remained to refashion the place according to his father's will, but it would seem even the old General wanted nothing more to do with the place.

It served a purpose no longer, held nothing of any use for him, and certainly was not meant for the cretins that had chosen to fester here. 

"Jaken," he said quietly, glancing down only for a moment to find his vassal awaiting his command. "Burn it."

The imp blinked.

"M-milord..? Are you sure..?"

Even Jaken knew what this place was.

Sesshoumaru gave no response, sweeping himself through the nonexistent gates once more and into the wild grove. He paused to pluck a leaf, stiff and brown, from a branch, idly inspecting it until he could feel the warmth from the flames his vassal had set. He watched, unflinching, as the place that had once been his home collapsed and gave way to ash.

He, Sesshoumaru, had a home no longer. No, that wasn't exactly correct. The whole world was his home; every tree and rock and river was his courtyard or nest as he required. He rather enjoyed it, this wandering and wild lifestyle, and it suited his desires perfectly.


	13. Sentiment

1448 mid-Muromachi Period, Summer, Shanghai

Kintsuke had returned some years ago with an agreeable female for Zheng to breed. It seemed Zheng was taking no chances as he quickly arranged for the two females to settle in separate residencies. Kintsuke was happy to volunteer to leave the castle and move to the manor further inland in the heart of the forest that stretched across most of the island. It felt more like home to her, deep in those trees, and while it soothed her it also made her more homesick. She longed to return to Japan, but she'd not quite completed her task, and so here she remained.

When she'd moved, Zheng sent her with a small detail of servants for her convenience, and Kintsuke was surprised to find that Xia Li had chosen to come along as well. She'd always thought Xia Li resented having to wait on Kintsuke hand and foot, but either she had been wrong, or Xia Li was simply dedicated. Whichever way, it warmed Kintsuke's heart to have the familiar woman near.

As the years rolled by, Kintsuke continued to strengthen her flames. The blue still caused her some trouble here and there, but most of her focus now was on improving her ability to summon each hue as need be in the heat of battle. It required a level of focus and inner tranquility she currently lacked but was certain she only needed practice to attain.

She also resumed studying the intricate and sometimes ambiguous workings of the demon aristocracy. It was a far less rigid system than Kintsuke had originally thought, fluid and practical, with only one solid truth understood by all: the strong and capable ruled. There was a sort of honor system, similar to what the humans had, based of course on demon values, and she noticed there wasn't a terrible amount of back-stabbing outside of the tribes that specialized in deceptions; again, quite unlike the humans.

There was also far less to mating than she had originally thought. While humans married for company, territory, power, and alliances, demons were more concerned with the survivability and potential of their young. Exactly which traits were found favorable depended on the tribe in question, and this gave Kintsuke hope that perhaps, one day, she truly would be able to secure for herself a male of some significance, despite the state her blood.

She found that particular subject was on her mind more often now, especially since Zheng had tasked her with the care of the new pups as they each were born and grew old enough to leave their mother. There were five of them before Zheng finally gave his consort an extended rest, often visiting the manor to check on the progress of his children.

Kintsuke couldn't quite understand it, though. She knew why the pups had to be removed from the female as soon as possible to allow for continued breeding, but why give them to Kintsuke to care for? She was no wet nurse and was far from the mothering type. In fact, she didn't even really like children, and at first, she resented Zheng for plopping the younglings in her lap like this. As they grew, though, chasing across the courtyard after her flowing silks or grabbing for her hands through the trailing sleeves of her hanfu as they followed her down the halls, seeking protection and permission from the oldest and strongest among them, she found herself beginning to soften.

They looked up to her with wonder and trust in their eyes, ignorant to the evils outside their home and the truth of what she was. 'Sister Kiki' they called her, unable to pronounce her full name properly. The nickname had irked her at first, but she'd grown used to it. She was becoming attached, and she soon found herself no longer simply watching over them, but being an active part of their everyday lives.

When they fell and hurt themselves, she told them to get up and make it heal. When they squabbled, she enforced the rules of honor and etiquette, strongly counseling them to either accept what was, or to find a way to change it. When they began sparking flames of their own, she encouraged their experimentation and even let them play with her own; very carefully, of course. She taught them all she knew about the ways of demons and humans, of language and decorum battle, and eventually found herself having to answer one of the questions she knew they would ask one day.

"Sister Kiki, if we're family, then why do you look different?"

She smiled slightly at them, her ears flattening to hide under her hair in embarrassment.

"Well, I was just born this way. Sometimes even siblings from the same parents can come out looking different from each other, see?"

She pointed out the varying traits between even just the small group of them. Thankfully, they'd been satisfied by that.

She frowned as she watched them romp through the courtyard again afterward; knowing that one day, soon, the simple answer she'd given wouldn't be enough for them. The thought of how they would react was like a dagger in her heart…but she couldn't bear to distance herself from what was the closest thing to a real family she'd ever had. She felt a stirring deep inside, and slowly she found that she was beginning to desire this quiet simple life with pups around her feet.


	14. Suspicion

1453 mid-Muromachi Period, Winter, Shanghai

Kintsuke snapped awake, claws slashing out to grasp whatever they could, finding only the curtains of her bed. Sweat matted her hair and clothes, her breathing ragged as she slowly came to.

 _'Wha-..? I don't... Where..?'_ She sighed. ' _Goddamnit...'_

She pressed her palm against her aching head and slowly came down off the adrenaline rush. It had been that same dream again. It was plaguing her more often now, and she felt the threat of danger in it more keenly; not just to herself, but to the little ones here as well.

She trembled even as she forced herself out of bed and into the sobering chill of her room, focusing on steadying her breathing and slowing her heart to a reasonable pace.

Her ears flicked, picking up the slight sounds of someone else there.

Her eyes snapped up, edging red, her fangs bared…and she found that it was only Xia Li. The woman was used to these reactions by now and did not flinch. Kintsuke spotted the small tray baring several cool, damp cloths, and she motioned the woman over, gladly using one to blot the sweat from her face and neck.

"Thank you, Xia Li," she said softly, receiving a quiet nod. "I think…I am going to go for a walk. Please prepare tea for my return."

Another silent nod and Xia Li departed, leaving Kintsuke to take her time dressing in thick warm layers before making her way outside.

She meandered out and through the trees toward the northern edge of the island, slowed both by her gradually calming nerves and the depth of the snow that blanketed everything in shimmering white. The air was still, sharply chilled, and her breath came out in great puffs of grey.

Only experience told her when she'd reached the snow-covered shoreline, and she glanced back for a moment toward the other end of the large island where Zheng's fortress stood. Its braziers burned higher than ever, throwing their lights up to writhe across the dark expanse of the night sky like a rainbow-colored dragon. In contrast, the moon hung low and huge on her side of the island, the points of its pearly crescent shape slicing boldly across the blackness there.

Even as Kintsuke bathed in its soothing and splendorous glow, her heart ached; perhaps she was still recovering from yet another of her almost nightly panic attacks. She barely noticed the way her youki swelled, heating the air around her to keep her warm until the snow had melted away and she found she was standing not on land, but in a puddle atop the frozen surface of the lake. Below, all was darkness, wrapped in a death-like stasis as it awaited the rejuvenating warmth of the coming months.

She felt it more than she saw it, and her heart stopped as something stirred in those depths. Kintsuke held her breath and waited. Perhaps, in her current state, she had imagined it?

It stirred again.

No, she wasn't imaging it.

Her instincts screamed, still riled from her nightmare, and she bolted back to the safety of the land. She dove through the barren forest, refusing to stop until she was well beyond the gates of her manor. Even here, on the steps of her courtyard walkway, gripping the banister, she did not calm. Flashes of her dreams griped her, and she clutched at her chest as her heart threatened to force its way out of its cage of flesh.

Whatever doubts she'd had before were gone now. There was something in that lake; something evil and ravenous, and far stronger than herself. She wasn't safe here.

' _The children_ ,' she thought, frowning. Were they also unsafe? ' _No. NO. Whatever that…thing…is, I will not allow it to have them!'_

A soft, tired voice drew her from the precipice of hysteria, and she shifted her gaze to the small shape that stood, shivering, just inside the sliding doors that lead inside the manor.

"Sister Kiki…?"

The little girl was rubbing at one of her silvery eyes, her tiny fangs flashing as she submitted to a yawn. Kintsuke made herself smile gently at the pup.

"Did I wake you, Shu-Ting?"

The little girl nodded, and Kintsuke strode inside, shutting out the cold as she walked her back to her room with her siblings.

"Come, back to bed with you."

"But what if the bad dreams come back?"

Apprehension gripped Kintsuke, but she didn't let Shu-Ting see.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

Shu-Ting nodded again.

"Don't let it upset you, little one. It's only a dream, you can't let it affect you. Try to sleep, hm?"

She patted the girl's hair and ushered her into her room, watching as she snuggled in with her older sister before sliding the door closed and returning to her own room.

_'You hypocrite.'_

Kintsuke shook the thought away. It was different for her, she told herself, settling in to sip at the tea Xia Li had left.

' _But what if it isn't different? What if Shu-Ting's dreams are similar to my own?'_

She chewed her lip a bit, frowning at her own reflection in the amber-colored liquid. She tried to think back to the first time she'd had such a dream and every time thereafter, how it had changed and when. Slowly, a timeline formed in her mind, and she realized that each time she'd mastered a new skill or hue of fire, the dream had worsened until it took on its current form.

_'I began training the new healing flame only days ago, and tonight's dream was the worst I've had so far.'_

A thought occurred to her, and despite her greatest efforts to discredit it, she found she couldn't shake it. She recalled the way Zheng had continued to push her, the wicked smile he got every time she succeeded with her fire. The more she thought it through, the more she was convinced.

There was something nefarious in the depths of Lake Tai, waiting, desiring; and Zheng, somehow, was in league with it.


	15. Consort

Sesshoumaru gave no warning as he walked right over the clumsy imp that had failed to determine his lord's path and ensure he was out of it. Something was agitating him and it was once more something he could not place. He felt as though he should recognize whatever it was, but he could not. Neither could he shake the draw to the southwest. There was nothing there, he already knew, and yet the silent urging continued. It was only slight, though, and when he took a moment to consider a change of course to follow, it faded.

Again.

He swore to himself that the moment he found the cause for such a reoccurring distraction, it would find itself no more than a puddle of muck under his poison claws. For now, he needed something to focus his displeasure on. Something fresh and substantial…

A thought struck him, and Jaken shuddered at the gentle smile it brought to Sesshoumaru's face as he shifted direction and took to the clouds.

The poor half-breed in the red fire rat kimono never saw him coming.

***

1453 mid-Muromachi Period, Spring, Shanghai

The end of the year was approaching. As such, Zheng was arranging his usual feast and celebration. With his consort pregnant, he allowed Kintsuke and the children to stay in the fortress for the preparations, to the children's great delight. Even if Zheng was distant with them, as demon parents often were, they were overjoyed to have any sort of extended time around their father, playing with their various flames and imitating him in every manner.

With the little ones occupied elsewhere, Kintsuke took the chance to finally visit and speak with their mother, whom she had not seen since she'd first brought her here. She walked slowly through the halls toward the female's chambers, giving the servants ample time to alert her to Kinstuke's arrival and allow her to prepare. She bowed as she was announced, the woman returning an appropriate gesture and waving Kintsuke inside.

"The beauty of the moon pales in your comparison, Lady Consort."

She was not exaggerating. The woman was, indeed, quite beautiful. Settled in a small, but comfortable, throne of silver and red, the woman smirked cynically.

"Greetings, Eldest. To what do I owe this honor?"

Her pleasantries were devoid of any warmth or sincerity. The dynamic between them was a complicated one. Currently, Kintsuke was still the recognized heir, and thus a creature of substantial rank, but the woman was the royal and favored Consort, and mother of Lord Zheng's children. As Kintsuke engaged her in small talk, she got the feeling the woman was either angry with Kintsuke for being the one to bring her to such god-forsaken place-her words, not Kintsuke's-, or considered the half-breed quite a threat to her own children and prominence.

Kintsuke grew tired of the thinly-veiled abhorrence and waved the lingering retainers away, waiting until they were out of earshot before turning back to the female.

"Lady Consort, if I have in any way offended you or brought you displeasure, I would seek to make amends."

The female curled her lip at Kintsuke's human-like sincerity, and she did not miss the unspoken hostility the consort threw at her with her eyes.

"Tell me something, Eldest."

Kintsuke heard the unspoken 'half-breed' sneered in her tone.

"Why am I still here? I have given birth to more than is required, and yet I am expected to continue."

There was a taunting questioning in her voice.

"The desires of Lord Zheng are beyond my knowledge and understanding."

"Hmph… Of course, they are."

The female sent a piercing look at the decorative screens that sectioned of her inner sanctum from the rest of her quarters for a moment.

"I have been told you are not from these lands, but instead from the island. Is this so?"

"It is."

"What brought you here?"

"I sought to further my skills and to strengthen my flames. My understanding was that only Lord Zheng, my grandfather, knew how."

"And have you?"

"Substantially so."

"You are satisfied with your improvement?"

"Thoroughly, Lady Consort."

"Then why do you linger?" she nearly growled.

Kintsuke bit back an unseemly retort, taking a moment to smooth at the sleeves of her hanfu before answering.

"When I arrived, I entered into a bargain with my grandfather. In exchange for his training and knowledge, I would fetch for him a suitable female for breeding so as he could once again have a proper heir. As you are well aware, he now has five, and yet, I am denied my promised permission to depart, as is my desire."

The female considered Kintsuke for a long, palpably tense moment, speaking softly when she did respond.

"Then we are both prisoners here."

Kintsuke simply nodded, feeling she had somehow gotten through to her that she was not, after all, a threat. The consort's gestures were slight, as were Kintsuke's, and in such a manner they continued their conversation in silence.

_'Why?'_

_'I do not know.'_

_'I want to leave, to go home.'_

_'As do I.'_

The female flicked her eyes toward her window through which they could see the lake.

_'There is…something…'_

_'I know.'_

She shifted a hand to rest against her swollen belly, worry pulling at her delicate features. Kintsuke pursed her lips, hoping her body language conveyed her sentiments properly, that she would not allow the evil of the lake to harm the children she'd been given to ward over. Their eyes met once more, an accord of sorts forming between them.

Kintsuke was about to excuse herself when they both picked up on the sounds of a group of tiny feet approaching, and she instead stepped back to provide space as the litter of pups was announced and allowed in. The consort's attention elsewhere, Kintsuke took her leave.

Her heart was heavy as she made her way through the halls, intent on visiting the green-and-black flame brazier outside.

_'She feels it, too. I'm not crazy, I knew I wasn't being unreasonable.'_

Her mind danced through her logic once again, still convinced that somehow Zheng was involved. She paused a moment to glare at the closed doors to his throne room for a moment as she passed, stopping everything as she picked up on an old, familiar scent.

_'Canine, for certain… Not quite dog, but not fox; jackal, perhaps? Yes… Male, and older even than grandfather.'_

She couldn't recall any jackals that she was acquainted with, but it didn't change the fact that she knew this scent. She stepped closer to the door, hoping to catch another whiff of it.

A chuckle echoed in the far distance of the room where she knew Zheng's throne sat, but it wasn't Zheng's voice. No, she knew that voice! Then it hit her. She was pleased with herself for remembering, but then she frowned.

What was the old Warmaster doing in Shanghai?


	16. Warmaster

"I suppose the metal construction only makes sense, considering your affinity to fire."

Rekkonji indicated the fortress.

"Indeed. It suits my purposes."

Zheng mused, quite finished with idle pleasantries.

"You must be wondering why I've asked you to come, old friend."

Rekkonji nodded.

"You would be correct. Your letter only mentioned that you required assistance. Perhaps you would like to enlighten me, now that I have arrived."

Zheng nodded, rising to pace the vast open area of his throne room a bit, putting his thoughts together before turning again to the old Jackal demon.

"You recall when we first met, I presume, when I held territory on the island. You and that old dog General came in search of…what was it again?"

Rekkonji could tell from Zheng's tone and expression that he was probing, and he didn't much care for it. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"An item of interest to the General. As I remember it, you were able to direct us and were kind during our stay there."

"Yes, that is how I remember it as well. I also remember a promise of future assistance, if ever I required."

Rekkonji crossed his arms, impatient.

"That would be why I am here. Get to the point."

Zheng smirked slightly. "Always an icon of pragmatism, aren't you?" He chuckled slightly at Rekkonji's unwavering stare. 

"Tell me, friend, do you know how my family came to possess this?"

He raised a hand, letting his flames flicker for a moment.

"Is it not a skill native to your bloodline?"

"It is, in a way, but originally it was a gift, of sorts."

Rekkonji raised a brow, curious.

"Go on."

***

Kintsuke swept herself away as the men concluded their conversation and began their polite farewells for the evening. Her head was swimming with all she'd heard, and she felt herself stretched in many directions.

Zheng had explained everything to Rekkonji. The creature in the lake was a phoenix that had given its sacred fire to Zheng's ancestor to guard as it delayed its rebirth to rest. Mixed with their demon energies, however, the fire turned black, its rainbow of colors and abilities showing through intermittently. Those were the hues Kintsuke was mastering. It seemed the phoenix was awakening, and as such would want its fire returned. Zheng had found a way for the rest of the family to maintain its fire while honoring its duty to the phoenix: offer it the soul of one who could see the prism.

_'That could explain my nightmares, my sense of foreboding…'_

Outside, she stared deeply into the greenish flames that thrashed angrily in their brazier. Had Daiyufan or Shoucheng known? More importantly, how was Kintsuke going to get out of this one? Zheng had made it clear he would be naming Shu-Ting his heir once the whole ordeal was over, as she had showed flickers of the different hues in her flames, which only left Zheng and Kintsuke with the appropriate flames the phoenix required. She knew the outcome of that choice.

There was no way Zheng would give up his own life.

In fact, he was not willing to give up much of anything. He'd called Rekkonji here to assist him in slaying the creature in its moment of weakness as it assimilated its fire once again. This would ensure the phoenix would not bother them again, and would rid him of the family disgrace at the same time. With a mate and heir, he had no need for the half-breed any longer.

In her own pursuit of power, it seemed Kintsuke had allowed herself to become the instrument of her own demise.

***

Rekkonji listened as the children held their father's attention with their small talk, catching him up on everything he'd missed as they'd grown. The thing that held his own attention, however, was the half-demon that sat across from him in absolute silence, and yet without even a tinge of the usual inferiority he found such creatures could not help but exude.

She was familiar to him, somehow, and as he ate, he pondered, finally discovering the answer. It wasn't the ears that tipped him off, even though they were familiar to him, neither was it her eyes or her unique mannerisms. No, it was the smell of dragon on her that made him smirk inside.

_'Still alive, are we, little half-breed?'_

If he looked close enough, he could see the faintest lines under her robes that told him she was still wearing her dragon skin suit and armor. He could only imagine how many times it had needed repairs over the years, how she'd survived this long; and what she was doing here.

He thought back on what Zheng had told him, slowly reconciling all that had transpired.

It had been Daiyufan and her lover all those years ago that threw the poor half-demon at the feet of himself and the Inu no Taishou. Rekkonji had never met Daiyufan, so he hadn't recognized her back then, but it would have made little difference even if he had. He was not one to interfere in family affairs. He'd long suspected the origins of the half-demon that now sat across from him for years after he'd first observed Sesshoumaru running her ragged on the practice fields. Now, he found he'd been correct.

She glanced up for a moment to watch one of the little ones speak quite animatedly to Zheng, and he caught her gaze for a moment before she returned to her dinner. Kintsuke, they'd called her. Did she recognize him? To her credit, he couldn't tell.

He examined her youki for a moment, admittedly a bit impressed by the vast increase he found. Her jyaki pulsed around her form, poised and controlled. Truly, if he was not already personally aware of her unfortunate state, he would not have guessed it.

_'Perhaps Sesshoumaru saw a part of himself in you, enterprising hanyou. Mayhaps that is why he took you in, and also why he cast you away.'_

It seemed suddenly wrong to him, watching her here with Zheng and the rest. She didn't belong here. Her heart, like his, he was sure, was tied to the island, and her potential was wasted on Zheng's cowardly plan.

_'No,_ ' he decided, ' _I will honor my word to the letter, and not a bit more. She will find a way around this as she has every challenge up 'til now.'_

He met her eyes again, her silence speaking volumes to him. There was a tenuous tranquility in that yellow jade, a livid inferno deep inside, biding its time, waiting, planning. He understood now, and he trusted in her strength. It was not the blustering of a meager half-demon he saw there, but the confidence of a true demon.

_'I will not do her the dishonor of interfering.'_

Once again, Rekkonji said nothing.

***

Kintsuke stood by herself on one of the lower patios of the fortress watching the sky ignite in a rainbow of colors and shapes. The humans were celebrating their New Year, but it wasn't the fireworks that were keeping her awake.

The phoenix in the depths of Lake Tai had awoken; she could see the surface of the water above where it lay bubbling as it roused. Surely, tomorrow would be the day.

Zheng had once again erected his barrier, trapping them all here, so instead of escape, Kintsuke focused on her plan for survival. She would admit, her chances looked slim, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. She and Zheng had both met the terms of their agreement, even if he had not officially declared it, and so she owed him no further consideration or loyalty. She had a mission now, and something to protect; and hell take her if she was going to let Zheng win.


	17. Awaken

1454 mid-Muromachi Period: New Year's Day, Shanghai

The sun rose apprehensively in the east, the air still fogged and heavy with the scent of fireworks from the night before. The waters of Lake Tai were calm now, a great leathery egg case having washed up on the shore near the fortress of fire overnight. Inside, the creature stirred, slowly stretching and ripping its way out and into the world once more with a shrill crane-like screech. A bird-like hatchling flopped out onto the ground, slowly finding balance on its single foot as it flicked its wings to rid them of the goop and clumps of sand.

It gradually regained a semblance of its former power as it basked in the sun's light, but it still needed to feed. Luckily, the plans it had set in motion centuries before had developed exactly as it expected they would, and it could taste the souls of the fire wielders on the air over the gun powder as it spread its wings, soaring high in great slow circles as it assessed the fortress and terrain.

Like rats, its prey remained hidden inside the great metal structure; but for the moment it mattered little to the creature. The braziers outside filled with their colorful flames would sustain and strengthen it enough for the impending hunt.

***

The denizens of the fortress watched from their windows with varying amounts of apprehension and fright as the creature alighted near one of the braziers, burying its long white beak in the flames and quickly consuming them before continuing on to the next without any sign of injury or discomfort from them.

One by one, it emptied each of the braziers, growing stronger, larger, and more elegant even as it hopped along on its single leg. Its feathers grew out long and shimmering, its talons sharpened, its bright red crest igniting a crown of flames as it gave another, powerful cry. Nearly half the height of the fortress itself and a wingspan nearly as wide, the creature cast its beady eyes along each level, inspecting and pecking at the various openings as a woodpecker might a tree.

Kintsuke was watching it draw closer through the window of the consort's room, the children leaning and jumping to see around her and their mother.

"That's a Bifang."

The Lady Consort said from over Kintsuke's shoulder, and she answered the silent question written on the half-breed's face.

"I have only heard of it in stories, but it is a bird that feeds on fire. Supposedly, its appearance heralds the coming of a great blaze and other misfortunes."

"A Bifang," Kintsuke echoed.

Feeding on fire… So, it isn't just reclaiming its power as Zheng said it would. This didn't seem at all like the creature Zheng had described the night before to Rekkonji.

"Then, what is a Feng Huang; the phoenix creature?"

"The Feng Huang is said to be born from flames and is a far more awe-inspiring than this...thing; with long rainbow-colored feathers and two legs. There are always two of them, a male and a female, but they are weak cowardly creatures. They feed only on sundew and flee from any conflict or dishonor they witness."

"Does it have a similar resting cycle to this Bifang creature?"

"It does not. The Feng Huang is immortal and its power does not decline. I have not heard of the Bifang requiring a cycle of rest either, however. Perhaps it is a hunting strategy."

_'It's all been lies, then; everything Zheng says is a lie. Surely Rekkonji realizes?'_

Kintsuke shuddered as she came to fully understand Zheng's plan and while it disturbed her, it also made perfect sense; by a demon's logic, anyway. Zheng's story, rather than the truth, gave him an honorable way to rid himself of Kintsuke. Most of her power lay in her flames, which would clearly be of little use against such a creature as this, and she doubted she was a match for this creature of legend otherwise. This was how Zheng planned to kill her off, then.

_'And if my own chances are so slim…'_

Her eyes flicked over the essentially helpless litter, trying to formulate a method to preserve them. Zheng was not one to keep more than he needed. He would retain only Shu-Ting and the consort, and let the Bifang eat the rest.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jian was quite suddenly announced and he swept into the chamber, the large discs in his ear lobes swinging as he bowed. The sounds of the Bifang's pecking and chirps drew ever closer, making the fortress itself shudder.

"Lady Consort, the master requires the presence of your glorious self and Princess Shu-Ting in the throne room immediately."

The female growled.

"A meeting; now!? Why is he not outside ridding us of this pest?!"

She threw a hand toward the window to indicate the Bifang outside. Jian merely bowed.

"It is the master's wish."

"It is his honorable responsibility to defend his mate and litter from any and all threats. His place is outside these walls, not sequestered within them!"

Jian simply repeated himself, ignoring the rage that darkened the consort's eyes and turned to Kintsuke.

"He also wishes for you to conference with his honorable guest Rekkonji in the armory on the third floor."

Kintsuke simply nodded, and he left.

The consort allowed Kintsuke to bear witness to the livid indignation that twisted across her face, and the females once more held a silent conversation as the pups blinked between them and the Bifang outside with puzzlement.

Kintsuke knew now what she had to do, and as the consort left with Shu-Ting in tow, she considered the remaining four pups. She surmised that Zheng was banking on Kintsuke's more honorable nature to act immediately on his command, which would now leave them alone and exposed. They were still too young to understand that their unquenchable curiosity was capable of getting them killed; and they were proving themselves dangerously curious about the thing outside.

"Come," she ordered them.

Kintsuke ensured they were right behind her as she made her way to the lower, deeper levels of the fortress. There was a place there that she had found some years back, and it would suffice, she hoped, to keep the little ones distracted until the Bifang was dealt with. As they realized where they were, the eldest gasped and looked up at her, uncertain.

"Sister Kiki, are you sure we're allowed here?"

She simply nodded.

"There is no place safer at the moment, and certainly your father is willing to go to any length to ensure your safety."

She patted the eldest on the head lightly, ushering them all inside.

"Do not leave here until someone comes to fetch you, do you understand?"

They sounded off an obedient chorus of 'Yes, Sister Kiki' as they began to explore the wonders inside, and Kintsuke allowed herself a momentary smirk as she closed the door to Zheng's private quarters. There truly was no place safer, and she knew Zheng would have the consort and Shu-Ting wait there while the creature was put down.

Her inner demon purred as it imagined the look on his face when he discovered the gifts she had left behind for him.


	18. Honor and Vengeance

Rekkonji nodded as he and the half-breed reviewed once more their plan of action after Zheng had joined them, a hint of smugness in his air.

Kintsuke would be along the ground and lower levels to make the most use of her tonfa, with Zheng at the top with his halberd. Between them, they would maneuver the Bifang as needed, luring it with their fire until a weak spot was found and exploited; that was Rekkonji's focus with his ji polearm.

As Zheng departed to take up his perch, Rekkonji caught Kintsuke's gaze again, unaware of the expression written on his own face. She paused, waiting patiently for whatever it was he wanted to say. He licked his lips, hesitating. The silence between them roared with revelation, and Kintsuke smiled as she realized they both recognized each other. There was so much she felt she could ask him now, with that understanding in place, but now was not the time.

"Good luck, Warmaster."

The slightest of smiles pulled at Rekkonji's lips at the sound of his former title.

"Good luck, little hanyou."

With that, they parted.

As Kintsuke made her way along, she fought to keep the trepidation in her gut from coiling tight and making her nauseous. The pups were safe, Zheng's plan damaged, now all she had to do was survive this. With Zheng and Rekkonji also in the fight, she knew she should have felt more confident about her chances; but she did not.

_'You're being silly, again. Knock it off; focus!'_

She'd been through worse, faced direr situations than this, she was certain. All she had to do this time was survive; to protect herself. Surely she could manage that much?

***

On a cliff high above the plains of Musashi, Sesshoumaru watched his long flows of silver and mokomoko dance in the south-westerly winds. Something had knotted in the pit of his stomach, putting him on edge. He could feel it at the edge of his senses again, the thing that struggled and then faded shortly after. This time, however, it did not fade, the sensation remaining just behind his eyes and beyond his clawed fingertips as he continued to gaze out over the expanse of his ever-growing domain.

Somehow, it felt more significant than the previous episodes, and he tuned himself keenly to its minute fluctuations. Despite this, all he could make out was that something was supremely wrong, somewhere, somehow.

_'Why? Why does it seem as though this Sesshoumaru should be wherever this sensation is coming from instead of here?'_

He would never admit it, but he was thankful for the distraction the shadows that now sailed above him offered. He angled his head to watch as the large shimmering blackbird alighted further down the cliff, molting into the form of a man he recognized.

"Well met, Lord Sesshoumaru."

"Commander Hiken." Sesshoumaru greeted in his usual icy silk tones. "I do hope you've something of interest for me, finally."

"I just might."

*** 

Kintsuke watched the Bifang poke its beak into the many openings along this side of the fortress, seeking out the 'grubs' within. Above, Zheng and Rekkonji were in position, awaiting the chance to strike. She gauged how the creature would react, waiting until it was angled just so before bolting out from her hiding spot just far enough to be seen as she flared her bright green and black flames.

As expected, the Bifang twisted its head down to her, chirping in excitement as it spread its wings to dive down at her. Its belly and rear exposed, the males struck out, discovering that they would have to hack at the thick coat of feathers before being able to get at the tender flesh underneath.

Kintsuke dove back into safety, but only just barely, and she found herself kicking and stabbing at the beak that now pinned her against an inner wall as the Bifang pecked in at her. It pulled away completely, probably sensing Zheng's fire now, and Kintsuke winced as she felt that her dragon plates around her torso were cracked.

_'What the hell is its beak made out of?!'_

Panic threatened to grip her as she found her armor would be of little use, but she shoved it and her riling inner demon back down, scampering back out to make a strike of her own at the creature.

Back and forth, up the heights and around and back down they corralled and lashed out at the Bifang. Each strike sent more of its feathers to litter the ground, its fire-y crown blazing with its growing frustration with the three assailants. It tried taking to the air and sweeping down on them but found that between the halberd and ji polearm, it wasn't a much better strategy.

Zheng took the opportunity to bury the blade of his halberd into the soft spot under one of the wings as it swept by, much to the Bifang's displeasure. Blood gushed from the wound as he recovered his weapon, landing gracefully on the side of the fortress.

The Bifang screeched at them again, faltering, and it finally backed off out of reach to consider something new. The sun was high above them now; they'd been at this for hours. The creature was tiring, but so was Kintsuke. Even Rekkonji was growing uncomfortable with the amount of energy this required.

They couldn't allow the creature to rest, though, and so they pushed forward, chasing it back into the trees and toward the shoreline again. It hopped and struggled awkwardly through the forest, half-flying half-hopping, splattering blood everywhere as it went.

They darted in, slashed, dodged back again as it struck out with its good wing or snapped at them, and darted in again.

"Distract it, I'm going for the neck!"

Rekkonji darted away to find a better angle of approach.

Kintsuke flared her fire again to keep the thing's attention on her, but even those were starting to weaken. As expected, it lunged and snapped at her, and she danced just barely out of its reach.

' _Hurry up, Warmaster, I can't keep this up!'_

The blades of her tonfa sang as she slapped them against the pursuing beak, but she didn't relax even as it withdrew. Her legs tangled on something as she leaped back to put more space between them, and she caught a flash of the satisfied smirk on Zheng's face behind her before the Bifang lunged once more.

With a great snap, her armor gave completely, and she could feel the crunching of her spine as the creature's beak ran her through. It reeled up and back, determined to keep its prize, trilling in victory, but it was short-lived.

Rekkonji's weapon struck home a moment later, severing the Bifang's head and sending it tumbling back into the lake. Its body slowly crumbled to the ground, blood gushing like a river from the open neck. The twisting motions threw Kintsuke's body off of the beak, and the chilly air whistled through the gaping hole in her torso.

' _I can't feel my legs...'_

That old familiar burning ignited behind her eyes, her inner demon roaring to once again be free, to save them. She felt her youki thrash in kind, and she let it flow, shimmering white engulfing her in the healing flames.

She could feel her body beginning to stitch together, but knew it wouldn't be enough, not like this; and she knew she wouldn't have the energy to carry herself back to shore with just the strength of her already cramping and trembling arms.

' _No... I can't, I won't! I will not die here, not like this! I REFUSE!'_

She snarled as she curled into herself as much as she could, the lake rushing to meet her as her world bled red one last time.

***

The sky was painted a deep red as Sesshoumaru and Rekkonji watched the sunset from their respective locations.

The sensation at the edge of Sesshoumaru's senses had given a great and desperate pulse before fading sharply and completely; and he quietly reached out every few moments to see if he could find it again.

To his great frustration, there was nothing.

With the Bifang dead, Rekkonji squeezed the truth out of Zheng. He knew the bastard had meant for Kintsuke to fall in battle but to facilitate it himself instead of letting her own weakness consume her... This, Rekkonji could not accept. Even after their hours of effort, the Warmaster was the superior fighter, and he left Zheng's corpse to rot in the sun.

Finally free, the Lady Consort decided she would return to her own territory with her pups. She requested Rekkonji's escort, and he agreed. As he waited for their things to be packed and themselves to be readied for the journey, Rekkonji kept watch over the lake.

Not even a ripple disturbed the glassy surface.

' _Where are you, hanyou? Don't tell me this was the extent of your power after all these years.'_

He glowered, as though he could force the lake to confess. All he received was perfect silence.

_'Come on, Kintsuke.'_

The Lady Consort was ready to leave. Rekkonji ended his futile vigil and began the eastward trek. His heart boiled with fury for both Zheng and Kintsuke. Zheng because of his cowardice and dishonor; Kintsuke because she had chosen now, of all times, to disappoint him.


	19. Crossing Paths

1455 mid-Muromachi Period, Autumn, Japan

High above the glittering southern coast of Hokkaido Island, a large and wiry shape bounded through the clouds. While impressive by human standards, it still had nothing on the size of the old dog General, though the Inu no Taishou had never made an issue of the jackal's lacking physique. It was simply natural that the Inu Tribe was larger, stronger and the Jackals were smaller and more agile. They had complimented each other, and as Rekkonji descended to one of the freshwater pools below, he allowed himself the softest of whines at the sight of his solitary reflection.

It had only been about a century since his friend's passing, and Rekkonji still felt his absence keenly. He and the General had traveled and fought together for so long that even sharp-witted Rekkonji could hardly remember his life before the Inu no Taishou. From the day he'd bested Rekkonji and welcomed him along on his journey of honorable conquest, they had been pack. It was terribly weak, almost human of him, but Rekkonji was strong enough to admit it; even if only to himself:

He missed his friend, the General.

It irritated him, watching Sesshoumaru fumble about in his current manner, making a mess of all his father had left behind; and he still felt the disappointment of the half-breed's loss. The General had spoken of the inner strength she'd possessed, of the greatness she would achieve, and Rekkonji had rarely seen a time when the General was incorrect about such things.

'I am sorry, my friend, it would seem that this time you were mistaken.'

He'd seen to it that Zheng's former consort and her pups were returned to her father's domain and settled in, as he'd said he would, but he'd lingered around Lake Tai for a time. There was still no sign of the half-breed he'd seen swallowed into its depths; strangely, not even the usual life within the waters had stirred, the banks lined with the corpses of fish and turtles and other such things. Fully convinced of her loss, he'd left Shanghai to return home.

The familiar scents of the Western Province seemed welcoming as he arrived, and soon the scent of poison joined the medley. He tracked it to one of the many plains here, watching from high above in the clouds as Sesshoumaru slashed his way with disinterested grace through a band of miscreants that had failed to let him pass, judging from the sounds of the squawking creature nearby the young inu lord.

"Another effortless victory; well done, my lord! Of course, nothing less can be expected from one such as yourself!"

Rekkonji's ears twitched with irritation at the pitch of the thing's voice, and it seemed even Sesshoumaru was hardly tolerating it. Seeing that his current engagement was concluded, Rekkonji gave a great shake of his fur, sending his scent down to the General's pup; an invitation.

Sesshoumaru's golden eyes sliced up to scrutinize the clouds. He recognized the scent, and quickly found the lithe form silhouetted high above.

"Remain here."

Sesshoumaru's eyes glinting red as he melted easily into his true form and bounded up into the clouds to meet the old demon. He took a higher elevation, making it clear to the jackal where he felt they stood. Rekkonji bucked his claim mildly with a snarl, tail curled high and a ridge of fur rising along his spine. Sesshoumaru barked viciously down at him, his muscles coiling under the silvery fur that shimmered in the pure sunlight up here.

More out of the demands of their natures than any real question of who was superior, Sesshoumaru obliged Rekkonji's challenge, the two dancing around each other before Sesshoumaru finally took him to the ground, fangs sunk into his neck and a paw on his exposed belly. Only after the jackal had shown proper deference to him did Sesshoumaru release, blinking down as he shrunk again into a human-like form. He let a moment pass, solidifying his superiority, before following suit.

Jaken scampered to join his master once again, harshly reprimanding the older male for daring to challenge the great and mighty Sesshoumaru. Rekkonji barely spared the pesky creature a glance as he closed to a polite conversational distance.

"Warmaster."

"Lord Sesshoumaru. I see your skills have only improved since last we sparred."

Sesshoumaru's lips quirked into a haughty expression as he slipped his arms comfortably into his sleeves. He tilted his head, curious.

"Tell me, why have you sought me out?"

Rekkonji did his best to keep his neck unexposed even as he had to crane his head back a bit to meet Sesshoumaru's gaze. Like his father, the pup was tall; a stature matching his power.

"Nothing more specific than a passing curiosity about your progress; I have been away and have not kept track of your more recent exploits."

"I see."

Sesshoumaru's smirk twisted into a sneer.

"I am a pup in need of monitoring, then?"

"Not at all; I am merely interested in your development into a power similar to your honorable father. The growth of soldiers and Generals alike is my skill and interest in life."

Sesshoumaru blinked as he came to understand, though the idea was still senseless to him. His terrible father and the jackal may have been something akin to pack, but this Sesshoumaru certainly held no such regard for the old Warmaster.

"He commands your loyalty even from the grave, I see. Admirable, but of course I have no need of such considerations."

Rekkonji allowed himself to chuckle a bit.

"No, I suppose not."

Sesshoumaru flicked his eyes to take in the details of Rekkonji's different attire.

"You've been to the continent."

He recognized the styling from his father's old wardrobes. Even some of his own outfits had such

Rekkonji nodded.

"I was. It was an enlightening trip."

Sesshoumaru tilted his head again in silent question. Rekkonji chuckled again.

"I found something there, something of yours. I had been wondering where she'd wandered off to."

_'Something of mine; a female; in China?'_

"This Sesshoumaru has no acquaintances or holdings on the mainland. Explain."

Rekkonji frowned. Had he forgotten?

"That half-breed pet of yours."

Sesshoumaru's eyes darkened at the insinuation.

"I have never in the past nor in the future shall I ever have a 'pet'."

Rekkonji simply nodded after a moment.

"I see…"

A pathetic end to a pathetic creature, passed on and long dismissed…but such is the fate of the hanyou creatures. 

"Then her death will mean little to you."

_'Death?'_

Sesshoumaru held his stoic demeanor.

"Indeed, nothing at all. Is there more to this meeting, jackal? If so, I insist you get to the point of it."

Rekkonji shook his head.

"Nothing more; I expect you've much to do. Perhaps we will cross paths again in the future."

Sesshoumaru returned the shallow bow with a slight incline of his head, watching as the old Warmaster released his guise once again and bounded back into the clouds. Jaken made an indignant sound from beside him.

"Hmph! The nerve of some! To not even offer an appropriate farewell to you before departing, my lord, it is completely unacceptable!"

He fell silent, however, when he noticed the pensive expression on his master's face.

_'Dead; in China… That would explain why I have not come across its scent in some time here. What does the continent hold that would have tempted it away from its homeland?'_

He glanced down at his claws. Was that the source? Had the creature's struggling been what he'd been feeling; its death the final inkling at the edge of his senses? He had not felt the disturbance since that day nearly three years prior, but that did not explain why. Why had he felt it at all? He recalled, vaguely, the miserable creature he'd held under his command nearly a century ago, but he'd retrieved the entirety of his youki from it before it had departed…had he not?

He felt the frozen bundle of sentiment deep inside him stir, threatening to crack as the reality of the creature's demise began to weigh on him. He shoved the thoughts from his mind, fist clenching hard against the impending shift. If it was dead, then it must have been weak; and he had not the time to waste on such an inferior being.


	20. Lingering Attachment

Jaken poked at the infant fire, carefully adding more tinder and kindling to it until he finally had it at the appropriate height. Nearby, his master lounged against his chosen tree, a knee drawn up to hang an arm over it, and A-Un huffed in its slumber. It would be another quiet night, the imp hoped, as he set his dinner to warm by the fire; and to his pleasure, it was…at least at first.

As he settled in for sleep himself sometime later, he took one last survey of the camp and found his master's sleep was not a peaceful one. His claws twitched now and again, his jyaki flicking as though angry. Whatever he was dreaming, Jaken had the suspicion it was not pleasant for his master. He knew better than to disturb him, though, and simply nestled into his spot for the night, clutching the nintoujou at the ready. One could never be too careful.

Under the glow of the full moon, Sesshoumaru was, indeed, dreaming.

~~~~

_It was a montage of warfare, the usual serenade that soothed him into a restful sleep. His enemies fell by the hundreds at his feet, easily dispatched on his claws, and his demon nature reveled in the blood-stained field before him. He could smell it all, nearly taste it; the sweet crimson, his acrid poison, slimy viscera and…fire…but it wasn't normal fire._

_He knew this scent, knew it was different, significant. His body moved effortlessly in his dream to locate the source, nose to the wind. It changed direction, the trail shifting, and he moved to follow again. Over and over, the scent of this strange fire moved, and the predator in him snarled as he was denied his prey. He needed to find the source, to put hands on it, feel it squirm in his grasp._

_There was a deeper need, too, a primordial need; base and burning, fundamental to his very nature and his continued failure to locate the thing that was giving off that rich and molten scent nearly sent him into a frenzy of rage. Whatever the thing was, it was his; it belonged to this Sesshoumaru and he NEEDED to find it, to trap it to himself, to rub his scent all over it, to mark it as HIS._

_His guise released and he threw his snout towards the clouds. He found the trail again and easily bounded after it. He anticipated its shifts this time, and slowly, finally, he began to hone in on it._

_Over the mountains and hills, down through craggy ravines and deep into the forests, barely making a rustle even in his massive form, truly a phantom creature of nightmares._

_There, a lake; it was coming from there!_

_He stopped at the edge of the murky pool that nearly bubbled with the heat within, blood thick and coagulated with bits of cloth and flesh floating on the surface. For once, he found it distasteful._

_He lapped at the water hesitantly with his feathered tongue and found it tasted only of death. Enraged, he swiped at it with his huge paw until the muddy bed was exposed. There was nothing, and the smell was gone yet again._

_He snarled, digging deeper into the mud, grinding his snout down into it; there was nothing._

_He reared back, thrusting his nose high to find it, rising on his back legs; but there was nothing._

_He bounded through the forest again, high into the mountains; nothing._

_Nowhere could he find the scent or the thing that belonged to him. He was being denied. It was his, and the very world was standing in his way._

_He stomped against the patches of bamboo with his giant paws, wresting great trees roots and all from the earth, finally throwing back his head to howl his rage to the sky._

~~~~

Still deep in sleep, Sesshoumaru did not see the way his vassal started in terror as his real body bared fang and snarled into the night.

***

1463, mid-Muromachi Period, Summer, Musashi

Jaken kicked his legs idly as he sulked on A-Un's back. Sesshoumaru had abandoned him yet again to chase after…whatever it was that had caught his master's attention for the day. Sometimes he hated how fickle and impulsive his lord could be.

Then again, he thought quietly to himself, Lord Sesshoumaru is just a dog, after all, subject to the whims of his basic instincts.

The thought had barely finished before Jaken found himself sprawl face-first in the grass, the back of his head throbbing. He squawked indignantly, hopping up to find who would dare-!

"L-Lord Sesshoumaru! You've returned!"

Sesshoumaru gave A and Un a quick pat, blatantly ignoring the imp, though the tiny thing couldn't help but see the way Sesshoumaru's eye twitched with irritation. Jaken was used to Sesshoumaru showing up without his notice, for the grace and stealth of his master was beyond compare, but why had he struck his loyal servant, who had done nothing to deserve it?!

Wait... Was it possible that he could…? No, such skills were only-. His thoughts were cut short by Sesshoumaru's glower. Jaken understood then. Sesshoumaru knew what Jaken was thinking, as if he could hear the thoughts like they were his very own!

The hint of smugness that entered Sesshoumaru's expression removed all doubt from the imp about his master's myriad of skills. He would simply have to accept this as one of them….and mind his thoughts as well as his actions. Truth was, Sesshoumaru had grown quite weary of the imp's constant annoyances and sought a way to better communicate his desires to him without having to constantly expend his precious energy by stating the obvious. It was a simple trick, one of many he knew, and already it was serving him well.

_'At the very least, I might find some amusement.'_

"Was your trip a fruitful one, my lord?" Jaken ventured carefully.

He could smell that old jackal demon on him again. Just why his master continued to seek the company or counsel of that disrespectful mutt was beyond Jaken's understanding.

"Yes. We are leaving."

Jaken scrambled to gather A-Un's reigns, tugging the dragon creature along to catch up with his swift and often inconsiderate master.

Indeed, Sesshoumaru's sessions with Rekkonji were advantageous as always, for they each grew in skill and power. One day, perhaps, Sesshoumaru would call on him to serve as he had once served the Inu no Taishou, but in order better his chances of Rekkonji acquiescing, Sesshoumaru needed to maintain a basic relationship with him until that point in time.

He was always pleased, though he would never say it, to discover some new trick from the Warmaster or find some way to make his own skills more efficient, and he had convinced himself that the bettering of his sword hand was the only reason he went. His lengthy visits and tolerance of Rekkonji's jabber had nothing to do with any sort of hope that he would reveal more of the half-breed that had met its end on the continent.

As it was, the story he'd been able to patch together was a puzzling one. It had sought power, apparently from its' lineage, and had gone to great lengths to get it. Rekkonji's depiction of the demon Zheng and his cowardly scheming made Sesshoumaru sneer inside. Deplorable, truly, how had one such as he been allowed to remain in power for so long? Sesshoumaru had several theories, but they were simply mental exercises, nothing of any real consequence or value.

He was now certain, however, that the hanyou had been the entity dancing just beyond his senses. The timeline Rekkonji laid out for him was proof enough for Sesshoumaru. In a way, he was pleased that he would no longer be plagued by such disturbances; on the other hand, though…

He pushed the thought away again.


	21. Avail

1478, mid-Muromachi Period, Autumn, Shanghai

The murky shallows of Lake Tai were quiet.

Unbearably hot, the creatures that had once resided here were gone; the various plants withered away. Over the years, the water had slowly evaporated; even the downpours of Spring were unable to quench the land's growing thirst. Eventually, even the bed was exposed, along with a large almost crystalline formation. It was little more than a jagged glob of glass, but something stirred inside, giving a great pulse as it awoke.

Weak, but alive, it pressed its clawed hands against the outer shell, melting it back into the flicker of shimmering white flames it had once been. It drank in the hot, but fresh, air as the flames died away, no longer needed, and lay on the dry lake bed until finally, around nightfall, it had the energy to move.

***

Musashi

Three and a half decades; Sesshoumaru'd had three and a half decades of quiet and focus. Now, as he flicked the blood of yet another foolish youkai seeking the prestige it would gain from his defeat from his claws, he felt it again. It started in his belly, ghostly, coiling, then it tingled behind his eyes and danced just beyond his fingertips.

As Jaken once more sang his praises and berated the corpse, Sesshoumaru almost frowned. It was stronger than he could remember it being, this great pulsing sensation, but it, like usual, faded soon enough, leaving him to run his crimson fingertips together to wonder if he'd truly felt it at all.

He tried to remember what he'd decided it meant, but couldn't quite put his finger on it, not exactly. Still, it excited something within him, made his inner demon growl with...was it pride? Strange, for he never felt pride in anything other than himself, and he knew this thing to be a separate entity.

"Interesting…" he mused.

He felt the questioning from Jaken's mind and blinked down at the imp, who was waiting for his direction. Tossing the corpse out of his way, Sesshoumaru continued along his chosen path without another word.

***

Shanghai

Kintsuke couldn't remember how she'd managed to drag herself up the slope of the island, but here she was, resting against the steps of the dead fortress of fire. One look at the place had told her it was abandoned, and she felt and smelled no hints of life within, only decay. Particularly, she could not smell Zheng of that Bifang creature. She was safe; for the moment…

The moon rose overhead in a narrow crescent, the air here quickly cooling and kicking up the wind as the temperatures bartered an equilibrium.

How long had it been? All she could remember was the fight against the Bifang, Zheng's cocky smile as he tripped her—the bastard had tripped her!— to fall prey to it. She remembered seeing Rekkonji behead it, then everything had gone red. Where was Zheng now? Where were Shu-Ting and the rest? Where was Rekkonji?

_'How long has it been?'_

She'd tried assessing the passing of time from the growth of the trees, but all that was left of them were rotted husks. In fact, nothing for as far as she could see was alive. Even the exposed bed and slopes of the lake were littered with corpses and bones. Just what had happened here?

She could ponder the mysteries more later. Right now, she needed to feed.

There was nothing edible left in the fortress, however, not even any dried and salted meats; no water, no sake, everything had dried up or rotted away. Even the supplies in her former manor were similarly lacking. She would have to climb down and back up to the other shore to find something to hunt. For now, however, she needed rest. The threadbare blanket on her old bed did its job well enough.

***

Kintsuke had to travel quite a way to find an area that hadn't been affected by whatever had destroyed the lake. She'd eaten her kill raw. Its bloody flesh was the most delicious thing she could ever remember tasting at the moment, and it filled her with enough energy to find more. Stomach full, she risked a quick dip in the river, the cool crisp water refreshing. Her reflection, however, was anything but familiar. Cheeks hollowed, skin stretched tautly, she looked like death warmed over.

It would take time to recover her strength and former luster, and in the meantime, she set about understanding what had transpired. She holed up in the old fortress, combing through the scrolls she found in Zheng's room which recorded much of the information he had, if not all of it, on their black flames and the effects of the different hues.

As she devoured the one concerning the white healing flames, she discovered what had gone wrong.

She'd had the right idea after being impaled by the Bifang, but it hadn't gone quite the way it was supposed to. Properly trained, the crystal cocoon the flames could form would stabilize and hold the wielder in a sort of protective stasis until its body was usable again. This required a tremendous amount of energy, however, feeding off the user's own potent youki first before drawing on the feebler life energies around it. Kintsuke's had not been trained well enough, clearly, and had instead fed too much on her own life force first before turning to outside sources. The heat that had led to the lake's evaporation had also been from her lack of training, where hints of her green flames had seeped into the white.

_'I did this... Every tree and fish and everything else; I killed them.'_

_'But you're alive, that's what matters_ ,' her inner demon purred.

She frowned at herself but knew that, in the end, it was correct. She was alive, that was all that mattered. It was unfortunate it had required all of…this, but now she knew, and she could work to avoid such a travesty in the future. She gave it not another thought, focusing, instead, on her own recovery. Nearly four centuries of skill and strength had been sapped away.

She had years of training ahead of her.


	22. Fairytale Prelude

1498, late-Muromachi Period, Spring, Musashi

Sesshoumaru reached out one more time, searching for the thing at the edge of his senses, but there was nothing. Where had it gone? Was it still there, or simply quiet? Either way, he had other matters to tend to at the moment, and so he cast it from his thoughts.

Jaken scrambled to rejoin his lord on the impending battle field. Sesshoumaru hadn't even considered summoning the bastard half-breed to assist against the returned Panther Tribe, but the imp had, and he now returned with irksome, if not unsurprising, news.

"Forgive me, my lord, I acted on my own and sought out Lord Inuyasha. He may be a hanyou, but he is still your father's son."

"And? Where is he? Is he too cowardly to show himself; or did he refuse to come to his 'brother's' aid?"

"He is under seal, my lord."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Well..that is.. He lost his heart to a mortal priestess and was caught off guard."

Sesshoumaru glowered.

"That fool…"

"Yes, indeed, a complete fool."

It seemed he would not be punished for acting on his own, and for this much Jaken was relieved, but it did not lessen the danger he knew he was about to face now. He glanced over the mass of gathered demons nearby.

"My lord, if I may ask, who are they?"

Sesshoumaru almost seemed to shrug.

"Father saved them in the first battle."

"I see, then, they are our allies. How wonderful! I was concerned, but now that your honorable father's allies have come, you can go into battle with confidence!"

Sesshoumaru was less than pleased with his vassal's obvious lack of faith in his power, walking over the tiny imp in reprimand before considering again the gathered demons for the battle to come. It was a simple task to break them into platoons, recognizing de facto leaders and the various skills they all brought. Surely, this would be a simple victory. He himself was far stronger than he had been in his previous encounter with the felines, and he did, indeed, have complete confidence.

Pride seemed to truly come before the fall, however. While he was able to drive the panthers back to their territory further west, Sesshoumaru had failed in eradicating them once and for all. He'd underestimated them, been too confident, lost so many of those under his command; and while Jaken praised his master's might, Sesshoumaru turned silently on himself in livid rebuke. It was not a defeat, but neither was this a victory.

At the very least he knew which of his father's allies he could consider in the future and which he could not; Ryoyokan, for instance, was certainly one this Sesshoumaru would never find himself calling upon.

***

Rekkonji resisted the urge to pass a hand across his face as one of his field arms informed him of the disastrous outcome of Sesshoumaru's first military command. The pup was clearly not his father, not yet anyway. The loss of his forces was certainly something to berate, but in the end, he had been successful in driving off the Panthers again. In his home further north, Rekkonji hadn't even heard of their return until his vassal came to him with news of the battle's outcome.

On one hand, it pained his wartime sensibilities, all the waste, and slop; on the other hand, he was pleased it had happened. Sesshoumaru would not learn or improve if he never discovered where he was lacking. Indeed, the loss of men was unfortunate, but it was also true that perfection improvement sacrifice.

As the decades quickly passed, Rekkonji continued to leisurely observe his old friend's pup from afar, sometimes visiting his former lady bitch in her sky castle to exchange stories and information of the goings-on of the other greater demons in different provinces.

As always, the female was a paragon of demon propriety, appropriately interested in her whelp's progress while simultaneously detached enough that none would see either of them as an effective venue of manipulation against the other. In fact, it seemed to him that the female considered Sesshoumaru more of an entertainment than a responsibility. While it made perfect sense to Rekkonji, being more of a solitary creature himself, it was the sort of thing that would have driven something like a wolf lividly insane.

***

1548, late-Muromachi Period, Spring, Musashi

The night was comfortably cool, the breeze just right as it slid through Sesshoumaru's mokomoko and danced through his silvery hair. Behind him, Jaken hopped along to keep up, blessedly silent. They were so close to it, where the nintoujou had indicated, and Sesshoumaru had a feeling that this would be the final grave he would have to inspect to find his father's remains and the sacred fang sword, Tessaiga. One could even dare say that this Sesshoumaru was in a good mood for once.

Voices on the wind, coming from the direction he was moving in; the stench of sweat and filth and polish.

There was a gathering of humans up ahead, a group of samurai judging from the banners and tents the vermin had erected. Unfortunately for them, they had camped directly on the spot Sesshoumaru was looking for. None heard him over their own cheers and hollering as he glided ghost-like into the camp, easily discovering which of the vulgar beings seemed to be considered the 'leader'.

He watched as the creature, with a great effort, ripped the head from a boar with his bare hands, sinking its teeth into a section of flesh like some starved ogre.

'Disgusting creatures.'

Sesshoumaru mused to himself, and he returned the favor it had bestowed on its meal in a single simple motion.

"Move."

He growled at the rest of the now gaping faces, their indignant and enraged cries enjoyable, but only to a point. There was no need to waste time killing them all off, as much as he would enjoy it, they only need flee; but Instead of heeding his order, they took up their arms.

He bounced their leader's head once or twice in his hand, irritation beginning to darken his mood. Perhaps they had not heard him the first time.

"You bastards are in the way. Get lost."

Again, they failed to heed him. No matter, so long as they did not interfere. He was so close to his goal, he could feel it, and he would not allow the mere presence of such vile and lesser beings stay his hand.

"Jaken, the nintoujou."

The imp scuttled forward to obey, brushing the surface dirt from a patch of ground before setting the end of the staff firmly into it. Once again, the female's head cried out, and Sesshoumaru's eye twitched almost imperceptibly as he turned away from the empty location.

"It appears that the tomb we seek is elsewhere. Please accept this one's most humble apologies, my lord."

"Is that so…"

Why did his servant always feel the need to state the obvious? Sesshoumaru was drawn from his considerations of other locations to check by the resurgence of angry cries from the remaining humans.

"What is it, human?" he mocked, "Don't you get it yet?"

"They're demons!"

"Surround them!"

"Exterminate them!"

Sesshoumaru slipped his arms into his sleeves leisurely as he turned away again.

"How barbaric… Jaken, I leave these fools to you."

He would give his often annoying servant this much, he enjoyed eradicating the vulgar pests as much has this Sesshoumaru did. Still, there was elsewhere he needed to be, and he paid little attention to the gleeful cackles of the imp or the agonized screams of the humans as they melted away under the heat of the nintoujou's flames. Instead, he procured a boat from the collection the humans no longer had need of, for his next destination was quite a distance downstream of here and he didn't feel like walking. With A-Un temporarily away, he'd had to find other means of transportation.

As Jaken rowed them along, he let his mind wander, recovering his higher spirits despite yet another failure tonight. There was always the next opportunity, he decided. After all, he was a daiyoukai, gifted with longevity to rival the gods themselves. He could not allow every failure to weigh on his spirit. He had more time than he could fathom to wait, to evolve, to acquire anything he desired.

_'But not the fang. I do grow weary of this fruitless hunting. I must have the fang!'_

He felt a tickle in the back of his mind; Jaken was getting ideas again. Sure enough, the imp spoke up moments later, ruining his peaceful evening.

"Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"What is it?"

"A-about the tomb… Wouldn't I-Inuyasha know where it is?"

"Inuyasha…"

The hesitation in Jaken's voice only served to worsen the flash of disgust and rage that shot through him. He threw his hand back, sending Jaken headfirst into the river where Sesshoumaru held him under with the base of the nintoujou in punishment.

"You made me think about that hanyou thing…" he growled, ignoring Jaken's pleas for forgiveness. "First of all, he no longer lives, recall? He was sealed away."

"That's just it, my lord! I've heard the seal has been broken!"

"What?"

Sesshoumaru blinked down at his servant as he gurgled through how he'd come to know this.

"I see… How interesting."

'Released, is he? Hmm, but he was only an infant when this Sesshoumaru's honorable father met his end, how would he be privy to such precious information?'

Again, his vassal offered an answer, and a plan. While Sesshoumaru was loathed to recall his father's concubine, he could not discredit the idea that perhaps the old General had confided some future plan to her, and that, by chance, she had told Inuyasha. Jaken's plan involving an oni and demon spirit was certainly a simple and laughable one, beneath Sesshoumaru's own adroitness, but then again the half-breed was a moron. It could work.


	23. Fairytale's End

1551, late-Muromachi Period, Musashi

The Great Dog Demon Sesshoumaru had never even conceived that so much could happen so short a time; at least, not to him.

Tessaiga, his arm, Naraku's machinations, the revival of Rin and Kagura's desire for freedom; all these things and more had amounted to the single most eventful year of his life. As he once again departed the old miko's village, he reflected.

More enemies than he could keep count of; so many close calls and dead ends. That bastard Naraku had wasted so much of his precious time, trying to manipulate this Sesshoumaru, putting the human girl Rin in danger of turning him on Inuyasha. His death had been inevitable from the moment he began to weave his web; and now Naraku and the Jewel of Four Souls were both gone from this world.

Sesshoumaru recalled Kagura, how she had struggled against her master, and in the end obtained her freedom, but also lost her life. He'd respected the female's tenacity and own cleverness, how she'd stood on her own while still in chains. Even now, these three years later, he would bear no insult to her memory.

Between the sorceress and Rin, Sesshoumaru had developed something akin to compassion, had come to understand fear and the sadness of loss, the value of life. While where his Rin was concerned it came easily, he still struggled to apply these things in respect to others he had no consideration for. While he still had a ways to go, it had already been a long journey.

So, too, had been his ascension. All his efforts had finally come to fruition during his battle against the evil spirit Magatsuhi. Something had changed when the being had run him through and cocooned him in bits of flesh. His life on the line, and having already suffered devastating blows to his pride, Sesshoumaru had cast it all aside; his father's intentions, the Tessaiga, everything he still clung to fell away as his own will, his own power raged to the fore.

From within himself came the strength to regenerate his lost arm, and the manifestation of his very nature, his own sword, the Bakusaiga. Armed with a weapon truly his own, Sesshoumaru had, finally, surpassed his father and freed himself from the past, had, at last, become a true daiyoukai. With Rin settled safely in Kaede's village, for the time being, he was free to venture forth to the darkest places, to root out the powers that resided there, and to truly begin forging his own empire.

***

Unbeknownst to Sesshoumaru, Kintsuke had felt it in that very moment he had nearly died and instead ascended; a stirring in her lower belly where his youki had been so long ago. It flared and pulled, an echoed memory, urging her to finally return home.

All things considered, she found no reason to stay. Lake Tai had, like herself, recovered completely. With no sign of or word from Shu-Ting or the others, she was alone in this country. She'd achieved what she'd come here to do long ago, and now, nothing was left.

Without fanfare or ceremony, she packed up only what she needed, including the scrolls she'd collected from the fortress, and began the long trek back to Japan.

***

1552, late-Muromachi Period, Spring, Musashi

It took Kintsuke some time to reacclimatize to the language and mannerisms of her native country, finding quite the surprise in the new weapons the humans had here and there. The sounds from these new firearms were horrific, the stench tolerable-for her, at least-, and unlike their earlier incarnations, the 'matchlocks' were effective. She chose to take, instead, the road less traveled back to Musashi, avoiding the road that ran through the capital of Kyoto.

Along the way, she traded her hanfu for a black set of hakama and matching haori, a basic cuirass in the styling of the continent, and a simple white kimono under that. She would re-forge her dragon armor with the more durable hides found only here eventually. She wasn't exactly in a rush. To be honest, as she finally arrived in the plains of Musashi, she wasn't sure where to go.

She was home…. now what?

An encounter with a small bear demon named Misano gave her an idea. He'd mentioned the name 'Inuyasha', and Kintsuke couldn't help but think that if anyone had rumors that might be able to help her get back on her feet here, it'd be the tiny flea demon Myouga that had been charged to look after her fellow half-breed.

***

1552, late-Muromachi Period, Spring, Kaede's Village

"Koha..!" the little boy cried happily, his tiny hand grasping at the retreating form of a young boy in taijiya armor.

His mother laughed as she cradled the child against her shoulder.

Even as Sango wished her brother Kohaku would visit more often or stay for longer, being a taijiya herself she understood his need to go. Instead, she turned to her husband Miroku and their twin daughters, finding comfort in his wisdom and their smiles.

Still, so many creatures were not yet aware that the Shikon no Tama they sought was no longer a part of this world, and many others sought revenge on the late priestess Kikyou for one reason or another. Sango silently wondered just how many more would rear their ugly heads here.

Down the path at the edge of the village, the now twelve-year-old Rin stood on her toes and waved a hand up at the retreating shape that was her Lord Sesshoumaru. She called her gratitude after him, reminding him to visit again soon, and Jaken answered with chastisements for still being so informal with the demon lord; the one who now silenced the imp with a quick smack to the back of his head.

Rin had grown used to living here with Lady Kaede and the others, but she missed being on the road with her lord. She'd return to it all one day, but for now, she heeded Kaede's call to come inside for the evening.

In a hut down the way, Inuyasha leaned comfortably against the wall near the fire pit, Kagome curled against his chest as they, too, relished the quiet that fell with the night over them, the little fox demon already fast asleep nearby.

For the moment, there was peace.

***

Autumn

Inuyasha combed the horizon, keeping watch as he usually did when Kagome and Rin came further from the village to harvest some of the wild-growing herbs near the forest line. It seemed it would be another quiet day, aside from the surprise visit from a certain flea who came baring news of yet another approaching demon. Myouga had been the first to come across the traveling Kintsuke, convincing her that it'd be worth her while to pay a visit before hopping on ahead to inform his master of her arrival.

"Do try to show a little respect. You owe her a lot."

"I owe her, do I? How exactly do ya fig're?"

Inuyasha grumped, ignoring how Kagome and Rin had come to listen as well.

"She watched over you when you were much smaller after your dearest mother passed away; a guardian, of sorts."

Myouga knew he was exaggerating, but also understood that little else would get through to his thick-headed master.

Inuyasha sneered, unimpressed. If she'd been meant to guard him, then where had she been when Sesshoumaru or the other demons had tormented and nearly killed him? Despite Myouga's protests, he wasn't inclined towards any sort of gratitude for this 'Kintsuke'. He glanced at Kagome, silently asking what she thought about it all.

The miko shrugged, arms filled with herbs.

"I think it'll be interesting to see what she has to say."

Inuyasha shrugged in kind.

"Well… I guess I can talk to her a bit."

Rin beamed.

"I'll ask Kaede if she can stay with us!"

"I don't know that she'll want to stay…" Myouga mused. "Remember the way you used to be, master. She may not want to be around humans for too long."

"Just another demon too good to hang around humans, huh?" Inuyasha jeered.

"You'll see what I mean soon enough."


	24. Ghost of the Path

Kintsuke watched the village from afar, waiting in the field Myouga had directed her to for Inuyasha to arrive. The flea was correct, she'd rather remain away from the humans if she could help it, and Inuyasha had agreed to the quiet meeting here. It would only be a quick conversation anyway, and then she could press Myouga for information as she had originally wanted to do.

Inuyasha felt her before he found her waiting in the tall grass. He was surprised by what he saw, but now Myouga's words made sense. She was a half-breed, like him, perhaps having spent most of her years closer to demons than humans the way he had.

"You must be Kintsuke…" he ventured, wary of the stranger despite their shared affliction and associate.

She inclined her head to him a bit.

"Inuyasha, it's good to see you've finally grown into your kimono."

Inuyasha was not amused by the comment. He was glad, however, when Kintsuke cut right to the chase. He could appreciate a practical sort of person; but what was meant as a polite inquiry of his current state and development over the years somehow launched into an hours-long exchange of stories between the two. Everything from the year-long struggle against Naraku and the jewel to what the General had been like to the nature of half-breeds was touched on, and Inuyasha found for the first time in his life that he actually had questions about it all.

The sun was setting by the time they paused, and Myouga, ever the meddler, all but invited Kintsuke to stay.

"You're already here, and it sounds like you and Lord Inuyasha have a lot to talk about, not to mention she could help you with your skills in combat, sire."

"Hey, I do alright for myself, okay?" Inuyasha shot back.

Kintsuke merely smiled, not minding either which way Inuyasha decided. As she followed him into the village for dinner, though, she narrowed her eyes at the flea on his shoulder.

_'What are you up to, Myouga? Why are you trying so blatantly to keep me here?'_

***

Dinner was, to say the least, a tad stressful for Kintsuke, who found the fare strange. It was all human food, of course, but she grinned and bore it as best she could, not one to be ungrateful. She did, however, request her own pot for tea, plucking out one of the compressed disks of tea powder sometimes used as currency even among demons.

Hers was youkai tea, she explained to the bright-eyed girl they called Rin, and was not suitable for human consumption. At Kagome's urging, Inuyasha had tried some, hacking it right back up.

"'The hell IS this stuff?!" he fixed the cup and pot with an angry glower.

"Tea, Inuyasha; perhaps one day you'll come to like it."

Kintsuke mused, sipping her own cup quietly.

"Psh. Fat chance there."

Kagome and the others could only laugh.

The days passed in a peaceful manner, turning quickly into weeks as the two hanyou questioned and strengthened each other. Somehow, she'd avoided having to directly state that she, at one point, had been Sesshoumaru's personal servant. It simply wasn't something she wanted to talk about.

Having nothing better to do and nowhere to be, really, Kintsuke continued to idle, often finding herself convinced to tell stories of her time on the mainland and various differences in culture and languages for both Rin and the monk Miroku. Something of a scholar, Miroku's attention was rapt.

Rin reminded Kintsuke so much of Shu-Ting that it pained her, and she quickly found herself nearly wrapped around the girl's finger. Rin happily spouted on about the countless adventures she'd had after being resurrected by her demon friend, though never mentioned a name. Perhaps to protect his reputation. He visited often, it seemed, and she wanted to do something nice for him for once. After a stern and earnest promise that Rin would never try any herself, Kintsuke had given her one of the disks of tea.

The whispers of Winter were crisp on the air when the routine was broken.

Kintsuke halted her sparring match with Inuyasha as the scent of poison reached her. She knew this particular acrid flavor. When she pointed it out, Inuyasha shrugged.

"It's just Sesshoumaru. He comes 'round now and then to visit Rin. She didn't tell you?"

_'Sesshoumaru… That's…Rin's demon friend? That saved her life?'_

Kintsuke could hardly believe what she was hearing, but she could sort it out later. She was unsure of how Sesshoumaru would respond to her presence here, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to see him again.

"Hey, don't worry, he won't start nothin'; and if he does, I'll be sure the finish it."

Inuyasha offered a cocky smirk. Kintsuke smiled.

"All the same, I think I should depart for now. I will return for dinner."

She shrugged her haori back on, giving Inuyasha a polite bow before disappearing into the forest, leaving Inuyasha to frown on his way back to the village.

***

Sesshoumaru could taste it on the air, a familiar scent from his more proscribed memories. It triggered the sensation just beyond his fingertips; but below, Rin was waiting for him. He could follow the scent afterward. Rin smiled broadly as he alighted gracefully down.

"Rin, I hope you are well."

A slight kindness settled into his features.

"I am, my lord! Welcome back! Can you stay for a short while this time?"

The hope in her eyes twisted in his chest, and he found himself acquiescing. He ignored the hateful look the bastard half-breed shot him per usual as he ducked inside Rin's tiny hut. The smell he found here gave him pause. This, too, was familiar... As he settled on the zabuton she had put out, he traced the scent to the teapot nearby.

"Rin. What is in the pot?"

"Oh! Um…it's a special kind of tea, that demons drink."

She hesitated, as if unsure how to continue. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"How did you come to possess it?"

"Inuyasha's new friend gave it to me when I told her about you. She said I couldn't drink it, but I thought you might like it. Do you want to try some, my lord?"

Her entire world seemed to hinge on his response, and he found he could not deny her. He gave her a slight nod, taking the filled clay cup she offered carefully in his claws.

' _This is similar to what was served in father's castle…and that scent I found on the air when I arrived… It couldn't be.'_

His head continued to argue what his instincts already knew, but he tucked it away for the moment, sipping the steaming liquid and finding it quite satisfactory. As he gave her an approving nod, he thought the girl might burst with joy.

"I'm glad you like it! Inuyasha tried some, but he nearly choked."

Sesshoumaru allowed himself an amused hum at the mental image of the idiot gagging on something as simple as tea, listening patiently as Rin told him of her various adventures while he'd been away.

Soon, however, he felt his inner predator stir. He could no longer ignore the scent he'd found when he'd arrived. He considered and decided he had remained for what was considered an appropriate amount of time.

Setting the cup down, he rose smoothly.

"Rin, I must leave now."

She pouted for only a moment but saw him off in her usual manner, knowing she could not keep him there. He focused himself as he slipped into the clouds.

Even this high, he could track it the fading scent. Below in the forest a good distance from the human's colony, he found the source strolling along on her own through the trees. The wind brought him a fresh sample and he dissected it.

Rich.

Molten.

Female.

Hanyou.

His inner demon growled with what could almost be called satisfaction. The Warmaster had been wrong; she was alive after all, and once again within his reach.

She paused suddenly, those tufted ears on high alert as she scanned first the forest, then the sky. She could feel him, he was sure, just as he felt her. He glided down into the trees, stepping into the grass softly some distance in front of her.

She froze.

Those sharp eyes the color of yellow jade pierced him, and as he compared the being standing before him to the memory of the creature he had once commanded, he found that they were hardly one and the same. She had improved herself dramatically, and were it that he judged solely by jyaki, he could have easily mistaken her not for a half-breed, but for a demon.

His fingertips tingled, and he knew now that she was the source of the phantoms that had disturbed him all these years. It was softer now, though, and as he came closer, it continued to fade.

She turned to flee.

"Stay."

His tone was sharper than he had intended, but he could not permit her to leave. Not yet. She paused and turned to face him. She fixed him again with those eyes, head high, back straight as he closed the distance to a mere foot. The wind shifted like a distant memory, tugging his mokomoko to brush against her and curl around her feet.

He ran his gaze along every angle, memorizing the new, recognizing the old, and again, his demon growled in that contented manner.

"My hanyou…" he breathed.

Her heart skipped once, twice. As his name fell tentatively from her lips, he felt the bundle of frozen sentiment buried deep within him give a mighty crack.


	25. Reacquaint

Kintsuke bolted as soon as she knew Inuyasha couldn't see her. She needed to get as far from this place as she could before the demon lord arrived.

Several miles away, she finally allowed herself to slow to a casual stroll. This far out, no one that was likely to interfere would be able to hear or see anything that might happen. She wouldn't even try to fool herself; if Sesshoumaru wanted her dead still, he would come for her.

_'Let him. Surely after all this time he can be convinced to let it go. Some of his father must flow in him somewhere…'_

If he pressed, she would be happy to show him just how much she'd grown. She wasn't the weakling she had been back then; she would make that much known at least. She frowned to herself as Kintsuke realized she was almost excited by the prospect. Somewhere, a tiny part of her wanted him to come.

She shuddered suddenly, ears perked painfully to catch every sound.

There was his scent again.

Her eyes combed the forest around her, then cast up, following the arch as he alighted down into the grass before her like a nightmare manifest. She froze, locking eyes with this being she recognized, but could no longer say she knew. His presence fell heavily on her shoulders, nearly washing away her conviction.

His power...it was enormous. As much as she had herself improved, he had done the same twice over, at least. Her inner demon snarled, nervous and confused; his expression was not what she had expected it would be, and she narrowed her own from the uncertainty she now felt.

He was coming closer now. She shifted to run.

"Stay," he said sharply.

She couldn't help but pause. He held no authority over her any longer, but she wasn't ignorant of the likely consequences should she so blatantly disregard this hellish god. She squared her shoulders and faced him again, exuding every bit of confidence, calm, and grandeur she could muster.

His eyes ran slowly along her form, seeming to examine her as he closed the distance between them. She shivered slightly, but not from the cold. His scent was enveloping her, just as heady as she remembered, and it was making her uncomfortable.

_'Too close.'_

_'Don't move.'_

_'He's too close!'_

_'Do. Not. Move.'_

The wind shifted, and an echo of memory shot through her like electricity as his mokomoko brushed against her and settled around her feet.

"My hanyou..."

He sounded almost breathless, and the hint of something akin to relief in his tone made her heart skip. She rolled her tongue against the back of her lips to part them and felt more than willed herself to speak.

"Sesshoumaru."

Something glinted in his eyes, something foreign and unsettling, reigniting her desire to flee. She held steady.

"Why are you here?" he asked plainly.

"I had wanted to speak with Myouga, but he is nowhere to be found. I'll be leaving shortly."

"To find the flea?"

"That as well."

"Why else?"

"That is my business."

His eyes narrowed. 'There's the cold bastard I know.'

"This is my territory…" he stated simply.

He was trying to establish his authority here, but he'd not held any over her for many a year, and she was not about to let him start again.

"And I am on my way out, as I said."

She stepped carefully over his longer, more luxurious mokomoko, walking around him.

"To find Myouga…or to avoid this Sesshoumaru?"

She could hear the smirk that pulled at his lips.

"Both."

"What is it you fear?"

Fear? She growled to herself, turning sharply to fix him with a blazing expression.

"I fear nothing. You are well aware that my desire to avoid you is in the interest of my health. You are not so forgetful."

His expression puzzled her, and he considered for a moment.

"That is no longer necessary."

She refused to let him be so vague.

"Are you saying I am allowed here again or that you will no longer hunt me?"

He tilted his head a bit, again considering.

"I will not pursue a vendetta so long passed and unwarranted."

She blinked at him again, confused. Was he being…considerate, mature? Where was the ice in his eyes, the sneer in his tone? His pettiness, his cruelty, his haughty words; they were all missing, and it bothered her. Surely, everything that Rin girl had said couldn't be true…could it? No, she just needed to give it time. He would show his old self when given the opportunity, and she wasn't keen on giving him one. Having no words, she simply inclined her head to him appropriately and turned to leave again.

"You insist on leaving, then?"

"You are awfully interested in my business. It's unbecoming."

He did not reply as she began to walk.

"Hanyou."

She sighed to herself, pausing once more to glance at him.

"What?"

He slid his gaze up, through the leaves, searching for something in the clouds.

"Tell me your name."

_'My...name? You didn't care back then, so why do you care now?'_

But her pride compelled her to answer. Only those with names truly existed in this world, and he would know hers, know that she finally existed, that she was significant.

"My name is Kintsuke."

Something in her chest ached as he repeated it smoothly, eyes closed. They opened again a moment later and, without another word, he was gone, back into the clouds to leave Kintsuke alone in the snow.

***

Inuyasha was crouched on the roof of his hut as Kintsuke finally returned that evening. They glanced at each other, and as he narrowed his eyes at her she slipped her hands into her sleeves, preparing for what would surely be a line of questioning; Sesshoumaru's scent was still all over her.

"What did Sesshoumaru want?"

His tone was suspicious, but Kintsuke knew it wasn't directed towards herself, but at his brother. She hadn't even begun to piece together and work through the implications of what few things were said between them, so had little in the way of an answer for her fellow half-breed.

"He…wanted to know my name."

"Your name?"

She nodded.

"Kinda an odd reason to go chasing after someone that's obviously run away from you, ain't it?"

Kintsuke simply smiled.

"Sesshoumaru is…strange."

Inuyasha snickered.

"Ain't the word I'd use for it."

She just smiled to herself, looking away for a moment as he hopped down from his perch, making as though to walk with her, and she fell into step with him, heading for Kaede's hut.

"Inuyasha."

" 'Sup?"

"Could… Would you mind not mentioning this to the others just yet? I myself am not sure exactly what happened."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's your business."

He shrugged, but she could tell that the request had bothered him. As they ducked into the old miko's hut, however, they each resumed their usual demeanors. Rin and Kagome were already there, helping Kaede prepare the evening meal.

Kintsuke was quieter through the small talk than usual tonight, picking through her dinner the same way she did the jumble of half-formed thoughts sand suppositions that held her attention and focus. One thing she knew for sure. She would leave the village either tonight or tomorrow, Myouga or no. She'd stayed far too long and was more than ready to move on, especially now.

As though responding to the very thought of him, however, Myouga arrived in his usual manner, quickly popping back into shape from Inuyasha's strike.

"Greetings and salutations, master!"

"What you got this time, flea?"

"Got? Oh! No news, just thought I'd, you know, come see how things are!"

Inuyasha grunted, not believing the tiny demon for even a moment.

"I saw Sesshoumaru on my way here. Come to visit Rin again, did he?"

"Like usual."

Myouga nodded, and something about it made a thought dawn on Kintsuke.

She motioned him over, holding the flea firmly between her fingers once she had him. She lifted that hand to hide her lips from being read and so she could speak not even at a whisper.

"Myouga."

"Y-yes?"

"Why did you leave almost as soon as I arrived here, knowing I wished to speak with you?"

"W-well, you see, I had a bit of pressing business that simply could not wait."

"I see. And, were you aware of Sesshoumaru's impending arrival?"

"Ah, that is to say, he is rather consistent in his visi-"

Rage shot through her, contracting her fingers to crush Myouga between them before flicking his flattened body away.

Inuyasha watched him flutter to the ground. "What'd he do this time?"

Kintsuke simply went back to sipping her tea as Myouga groaned.


	26. Leave the Past Behind

Kintsuke lie awake well into the night despite her greatest efforts. Her mind continued the seemingly impossible task of trying to fit together the pieces of her encounter with Sesshoumaru earlier that day. None of what she had seen, known, and experienced of him before matched easily with his current incarnation. She dared to hope, but not to believe, that perhaps somewhere through the years he had managed to change.

_'He let you go, didn't he?'_

_'Yes, but that doesn't prove anything.'_

Unable to sleep, she finally sat up, making her way outside to give in to the pondering that demanded her attention. Now and then, she picked up the scent of poison that still clung to her; or was it only in her head? Something in her chest ached each time, and it puzzled her. What the hell was wrong with her? Slowly, as she let her mind wander from thought to thought, examining how his memory and influence had haunted her through the years and how she had reacted that day, she came to realize what it was.

She had wanted to see him. In some depraved, twisted way, without realizing it, she had missed him.

Kintsuke laughed at herself, almost appalled by the revelation. She forced herself to believe it was only because he was something familiar, and familiar was comforting to her right now. There was nothing more to it. There couldn't be, and she wouldn't let there be.

_'But you want there to be something, don't you?'_

She blinked at the thought.

…Did she?

***

1552, late-Muromachi Period, Winter

_'Still so innocent…'_

Kintsuke mused as she recalled the way Rin had bidden her farewell. The girl was overflowing with life, with simple and pure intentions, and Kintsuke wondered just how long she would be able to remain unchanged in the face of a world filled with tragedy.

She was many miles from the village by now, making slow progress. Patches of the land were frozen over and she had to watch her step as she found her way back towards her old territory. To be honest, she wasn't quite sure exactly where it had been, but as she laid eyes on the valley with its gently sloping hill and cavern, she knew she had arrived. Unfortunately, so had the humans.

To her great displeasure, Kintsuke found her former home had become a human village, the valley now a series of rice patties, the cavern in the hill something akin to a shrine. She waited until it was dark to explore further, finding stables, a small quarry further down the way, and a great chunk of the forest now missing. She recalled how it had looked before, the serene and simple beauty of it all, and found herself filling with rage. These humans, these…creatures…they'd destroyed everything beautiful here.

A memory sparked again, as they so often did now that she had returned to Japan, and she flitted quickly to find the old tree where she'd buried her late friend Shinjirou and his family. Amazingly, it was still there, along with the worn and faded headstone she'd erected. Perplexingly, she found traces of incense and other human-traditional gifts for the dead set neatly around it. Surely, they did not know it was a demon memorial; else they would not have bothered to be so respectful. Still, the fact that they'd preserved it lessened her anger slightly towards what they had done to the landscape.

She took a glance around, ensuring none were watching before she knelt near the headstone, brushing some of the dirt and frost from the top of it before pressing her hand against the chilled surface. She allowed herself only a moment of remembrance, apologizing silently to her friend for having been gone so long, and that she could not watch over his resting place as she desired to. Loneliness panged in her heart, warming her eyes and she shoved the rising tears away as reiki suddenly buzzed at the edge of her senses; it was time to go.

From a safe distance, Kintsuke watched a seasoned miko inspect the gravesite cautiously. Seeming satisfied that the area was clear of whatever she had felt, the woman knelt to tidy the grave, lighting fresh incense in the snow and holding a hand up in prayer before returning to the village. Kintsuke felt a part of her heart go out to the woman, thanking her silently before finally departing.

This place was lost to her; just another human claim now. She would have to find a new place to settle.

***

1553, late-Muromachi Period, Summer

Sesshoumaru nodded through his latest meeting with Rekkonji, which this time included the Tengu leader Commander Hiken in the discussions of the ever-changing landscape. Each of them was used to near-stagnation in the humans and most of their own kind, however lately the mortal's affairs were developing quickly and required a more constant vigil. That was Hiken's specialty with the power of his Murder at the ready to secure the northern territories.

As the avian rose and departed, Sesshoumaru finished his tea and moved to follow, pausing momentarily to glance back at the old jackal.

"Perhaps, one final thing you will find of interest…"

Rekkonji gave a motion that he was listening.

"It seems that you were incorrect about her; the hanyou is yet alive."

It took Rekkonji a moment to understand what he meant, brows twitching as it dawned on him.

"And how do you know this?"

"I happened to cross her path. It is the understanding of this Sesshoumaru that she is now settled somewhere in the south."

Having said his piece Sesshoumaru left, not seeing the slight smirk that pulled at the old Warmaster's face.

_'Well, I'll be damned, the old dog was right after all…'_

Rekkonji chuckled a bit to himself as he tidied up after his guests on his own. He would have to take a trip to the south sometime, he decided, to see with his own eyes, as Sesshoumaru had, the state of that ever-elusive half-demon who was so full of surprises.

Sesshoumaru himself had spoken with Kintsuke again only once when he crossed paths with her on her way to find a new home. He'd reminded her that the western province was open to her, but she had been determined. He remembered the uncomfortable ache in his chest as he'd watched her continue on in confidence, out of sight and out of his reach once again without so much as a glance back.

He frowned inwardly at the memory.

Had he been hoping she would hesitate, perhaps reconsider? Indeed, he had. Such silly things came to mind where this female was concerned, not so unlike all those years before. Despite the possible weakness it posed, he could not deny that he wanted to know her again as she was now, to have her near him; and as the years trickled by, he would find that the sentiment only strengthened.

He desired that contented sensation she sparked within him. He had long felt that despite all he had accomplished there was still something missing. They sometimes crossed paths in their various travels, always passing in silence. Each time she was near he felt that sensation fade, but never completely for she always passed him by without so much as a cursory glance.

Her eyes were still sharp when she looked upon him, and he did not begrudge her the lingering suspicion that made her tense each time they met. Where he was concerned, she was similar to an injured wolf. He understood that this had been his own doing and as such he would be responsible for taking the steps to prove he was no longer the childish entity that had caused her such suffering if he truly desired even the simplest acquaintance with her.

As much as he desired that reconciliation, however, it would have to wait.

Not only were there rumors of usurpation in the south which he sought to take advantage of, but after convincing her that she would only meet her death if she traveled with him again, Rin had settled down, married, and was currently pregnant. With the birth now just a breath away, he'd remained in the area, ensuring none would even attempt to ravage the colony where his ward had chosen to nest. Judging from the scent on the air, his hanyou had entertained a similar idea. He kept his sharp eyes ever watchful now not only for the demons and malicious spirits but her.

' _Mine? My hanyou?_ ' 

He allowed himself a slight smile and shoved away the sentiments of old.

_'No, that one is not to be owned.'_


	27. Life Marches On

1560, late-Muromachi Period, Spring

Kintsuke had done her best to avoid Sesshoumaru these past few years.

She'd remained mostly in the bit of territory she'd staked out in the south, but found she couldn't resist coming to visit the little human girl that called to the tender part of herself she often denied. The child had grown like a weed, and before Kintsuke knew it, she was married and with child. She still remembered listening to the girl-now a young woman-sniffle through a summary of the conversation she'd had with Sesshoumaru some time ago, only able to nod in agreement. Rin had been upset, of course, but surprisingly understanding.

As the impending birth drew closer, Kintsuke found herself remaining nearby, confidant that her associates in the south had things handled well enough. She could spare a few days away for the young woman whose eyes still shone like stars, whose passion and gentle cheer reminded Kintsuke that she was as much human as she was demon; something she often forgot.

She was painfully aware of Sesshoumaru's presence here as well, both in his scent and the silhouette of a phantom canine bolting along above the clouds. It occurred to her one day as she perched atop one of the huts in Kaede's village, watching, that she had never actually seen his true form before…but neither had he seen her as a human.

_'Don't be daft; they are hardly one in the same. That particular state…no one may ever see.'_

She shrugged the thought away.

A strange almost watery scent met her nose suddenly, quickly followed by a soft outcry of both panic and joy. It seemed the birth would be only hours away now. Grinning madly, for she had some-what recently been through a similar experience, Kagome nearly skipped her way out to pluck fresh herbs from the garden just outside the village for the soon-to-be-mother. Curious, Kintsuke followed, listening as the miko bubbled on about the joys and agonies of birth and each of the supplies they would require now. Finding no other way to be of assistance, Kintsuke began tucking the herbs Kagome picked into the crook of her arm and sleeve.

Perhaps sensing the commotion from above, Sesshoumaru alighted silently down, startling the human, but not Kintsuke, who had felt his approach. He blinked between the two females, who had paused.

"It will be soon, I take it," He mused calmly, a relieving contrast to Kagome's near-sunshine bright demeanor.

"Very soon! Kaede and one of the other mothers are already with her and we gave her-"

Sesshoumaru fixed her with a cold expression, quieting the woman and refocusing her on the task at hand.

Kagome pursed her lips, almost indignant as she rose from her crouch in the greenery.

"Well, excuse me. I thought you might be interested to know what Rin is about to go through. This isn't like laying an egg, or whatever it is you full demons do. Here, Lady Kintsuke, I'll take those now. Thank you." 

She gathered the herbs from Kintsuke's sleeve and made her way back to the village with her chin lifted.

"She talks too much," he muttered as soon as she was out of earshot, and Kintsuke merely hummed in half-hearted agreement.

She blinked up to find him already looking down at her, towering over her as she remained knelt next to the edge of the garden. She realized, quite suddenly, that they were alone. She glanced around quickly, hoping to find Inuyasha or even perhaps Sango, but they were already busied with their own appointed duties.

"Will you not be assisting?" he asked coolly.

She took the chance to rise smoothly to her feet and put a bit more space between them.

"I am not experienced in these things; I would only be in the way."

She did not miss the slight quirk of his brow as he seemed to take note.

"I am only here to ensure the locals don't decide to make a meal of anyone, however that is something I'm sure you have well in hand."

"Before you depart…"

He had not even given her the chance to turn away, though as she tilted her head in silent question, he looked away from her.

"What can you tell me of the instabilities in the south?"

"Instabilities?"

"I am told there is unrest around Mount Hachioka."

Kintsuke considered for a moment.

"That is one way to put it, I suppose."

"Then the rumors are true."

"They are; the conflict encompasses the lands to the east of the mountain along the tributary and north to Lake Sagami, but things will be settled again quickly enough, though there will be much bloodshed first."

"You seem well convinced of that."

The corner of his lips quirked slightly, and Kintsuke couldn't help the mischievous smirk that pulled at her features.

"It's easier to tell when and how a conflict is going to end when you're the one starting it."

She couldn't quite make out the glint in his eyes; excitement, perhaps? As she recalled, Sesshoumaru had quite the bloodlust, though she did not feel quite so much in him these days when they passed each other on the road.

"I see."

Feeling the conversation at an end and finding an opportunity to leave, she took it, giving him an appropriate nod before making for the road. She was sure Rin and the others would understand. She felt his gaze on her back as she went, her ears picking up his deep and silken tones, but unable to make out what he had said.

***

1563, late-Muromachi Period, Autumn

The powerful are given no reprieve.

Shortly after Kintsuke's departure and the arrival of Rin's pup, Sesshoumaru found himself quite inundated.

In the north, he, Rekkonji, and Hiken struggled against a band of determined lesser demons; the earth there quickly running crimson with their blood. They hunted down their surviving comrades, ensuring the insurrection would not repeat itself.

To the west, Sesshoumaru found himself needing to apply a more tactful hand, weeding out the rumormongers who were attempting to sully his reputation. Once found, they met a similar fate to those in the north.

To the east, he found disappointingly little resistance, needing only to chase out and slaughter the rabble that had attempted to settle there. He paused just short of the border to the peninsula that was the Panther Tribe's territory. Their frosty leader Toran had honored her word to keep her kind in check and out of his lands, so he would in turn honor his word to not pursue or impose on them.

Between each of these, there were countless smaller encounters he was forced to handle; demons still seeking prestige from defeating him, others already challenging his claim to the territories,

Finding a single moment of tentative peace, Sesshoumaru took the chance to release his human-like guise and nest comfortably in a great swath of clouds. From here, he examined his lands for anything that would require his immediate attention again before sparing a glance to the south. Smoke still rose from around Mount Hachioka.

_'You said things would be settled 'soon enough', female; what is delaying you?'_

He'd expected the conflicts that Kintsuke had admitted to causing to be settled by now. Certainly, three years was more than enough time, even against the most stubborn of foes; Naraku himself had taken only a year. He momentarily considered sprinting down to put eyes on the situation himself, for the rumors that reached him were devoid of any truly useful information, but hesitated. Would it be wise to step away from his newly acquired territories so soon, even for a moment? The answer was obvious. Aside from that, it was in his interest to respect the distance Kintsuke had silently demanded when last they'd met. He would take the south eventually, but for now, he left it to her. She required more time, it seemed, to settle her business.

' _She is, after all, only hanyou.'_

The words were hollow even as they passed. The truth was he still desired to have her nearby, to speak with him, perhaps even to fight alongside him, and he grew tired of waiting. The bundle of ice deep inside gave a shudder at that thought. Would she come if he asked? He knew he would need a second in the coming years, someone more competent than Jaken, and he did not have the time to seek out a new one.

Besides, what was the point when he already knew who he wanted?


	28. Taking the South

To the south, settled in the hills that rose up along either side of the tributary fed from the Sagami lake and river, Kintsuke and her cohorts struggled. For a variety of reasons, they were having no luck in wresting further control of the area from its new insectoid master and its spawn. The interior of Mount Hachioka was a veritable hive now, complete with squirming and squelching eggs and young, and it stood tauntingly as the last milestone they simply could not conquer.

Together, they'd had little trouble removing the numerous weaker would-be masters of the land and split the area amongst themselves. When Mount Fuji even further south erupted, however, it had either awakened or displaced the creature that now burrowed its way into the roots of Hachiokayama. Since then it'd been an uphill battle.

It bred quickly, producing at least three young for every one they managed to kill, and exuded a pheromone that bewitched humans and demons alike. Perhaps Sesshoumaru would not have been affected, but Kintsuke found herself once or twice under its influence. Thankfully, her blue flames were capable of neutralizing this as well as shouki, and she'd taken to keeping them lit about her face every time she got anywhere near the invisible danger line.

By now, three long years later, neither she nor any of her cohorts had any new ideas of how to handle the giant insect. True, they could just burn everything, kill everyone, and storm the mountain, but that would ruin the land and attract far more attention than any of them wanted; so they waited and plotted. The ensnared demons were disposed of easily enough and weren't much of a concern, but for Kintsuke, there were still the humans to consider. Her allies teased her for being soft with such insignificant and vulgar creatures, but Kintsuke couldn't help her need to get them out of the way in a manner that did not include death.

No matter how powerful she became or how she chose to identify or live her life, she was, and would always be, part human. It was something she was finding herself unable to ignore any longer. Strangely, one of her allies seemed to not only understand but agree with her intentions. He was a somewhat softer-spoken male named Yoichi, with long thick hair the color of evergreens and large glinting eyes like jet. They'd worked with each other more than with any of the others, and slowly a stronger sense of comradery had formed.

Eventually, the group had a stroke of luck. They'd managed to find a narrow channel in the side of the mountain and discovered that it led all the way through to the hive at the core. Perhaps being used for ventilation, Kintsuke now employed it as a pathway for her ravenous green flames. The cries of pain and anger, along with the occasional popping of the eggs inside, told them that Kintsuke's flames had done significant damage.

The effect was minor but immediate. The invisible cloud of mind-controlling pheromones weakened, freeing a small number of humans and demons from the creature's influence. The humans fled for their lives, the demons joined rank with Kintsuke and the others, but the following years would prove to be just as challenging as the ones prior.

***

1572, final year of the Muromachi Period, Winter

Twelve long years of toil, of loss, of patience and hope, had finally come to fruition. Kintsuke and her allies had managed to root out the demon of Mount Hachioka, destroying its massive underground nest, its spawn, and earning the gratitude and debt of those now released from its control. Many of her acquaintances had not survived the final confrontation but there was no time for mourning or remembrance. The survivors quickly disbursed to lay claim to the liberated territories they coveted.

The territory around Hachiokayama was more desirable, certainly, but Kintsuke and her now-companion Yoichi sought out the sprawling mountain ranges even further south. They'd decided to split the miles of land, taking three mountain peaks a piece, and once everything was settled, they began their trek to their new homes, a small group of grateful demons in tow. They'd agreed to offer their skills wherever they could when need-be in exchange for Kintsuke and Yoichi keeping the ranges safe from larger demons and brazen humans. It was a fair deal.

The trio of peaks they came across first was Kintsuke's. During a previous scouting trip, Kintsuke'd found herself drawn to the one at the center, Mount Omuro. She hadn't been able to explore it in much detail then, but she knew there was something there, waiting for her. As they arrived and cleared out the winding series of tunnels under the mountain, she found what it was.

Eventually, nearly a half-mile down, they came across a huge cavern. Spiders, bats, and other such pests were driven off easily enough, and further inside Kintsuke found it: towering to scrape the heights of the great cavern and carved from the very stone was a granite and adamant fortress-like structure, ringed by large ornate braziers decorated in the distinct style of the mainland. All of it was covered in a thick layer of spider web and dust, but Kintsuke saw it clearly enough, and it was all she could do not to root to the spot and stare in fear.

_'Is this....? It couldn't be... Zheng's former stronghold?'_

She strode forward cautiously to a brazier one of the demons had begun clearing of web and pressed her fingertips against the metal. It thrummed weakly, but the youki signature was unmistakable; Zheng had been here. She felt her hackles rise and her hair stand on end, her inner demon hissing ferociously at the intangible memories that thrummed against her fingertips and in the corners of her mind. She still felt the livid sting of her time on the mainland keenly, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to calm herself.

_'It's only the whisper of a memory; he hasn't been here in decades, at least. Besides, that bastard is long dead and gone… …Isn't he?'_

The soft voice of the demon nearby startled her out of the paranoid speculations, and she found Yoichi blinking down at her from the steps of the structure above her.

His soft voice echoed against the stone.

"Kintsuke-san, are you well..?"

She swallowed, forcing a neutral expression as she hopped up to join him.

"Of course; why do you ask?"

"You look as though you've seen a ghost."

She hummed noncommittally, not looking at him as they continued their ascent up the structure so like the fortress of fire in Shanghai.

"Something like that."

As though sensing her unease, he chose not to press the issue, leaving the group to focus on removing the webs and dust and clearing out the remaining pests and corpses that had been left behind here. When they were finished, Yoichi and those that had chosen to follow him departed, leaving Kintsuke and her small group to begin the long task of turning the cavern fortress into a home.


	29. No More Waiting

As the years rolled by, Kintsuke and her slowly growing band of residents managed to smooth and polish the cavern and its structure until it gleamed. Narrow shafts dotted the 'ceiling', providing ventilation for the flames Kintsuke had planted in the braziers to provide light. They were simple and of a natural hue, but produced no smoke and gave off nominal warmth. It was her latest trick, crafted specifically for this purpose. The channels of adamant that ran along the walls and through the structure soaked up that light, scattering entire prisms of color across every surface and into the shadows. No one had ever disagreed; it was beautiful.

After establishing his own domain further south, Yoichi began to visit. At first, they simply exchanged rumors and the state of affairs in their respective areas over a cup of tea; quick, simple, easy. As time passed, however, Kintsuke found she enjoyed having him around and did not complain when his visits came more frequently and he began staying for longer. Soon enough Kintsuke was visiting his own home in return; they were hunting together, and even considering a combined effort in controlling the entirety of the sprawling range. Many peaks remained unclaimed to the south of Yoichi's, and he was inclined to finish what he had started in establishing a stable influence here.

"This range once belonged to my father," he told her one day as they strolled through one of the thatches of bamboo on the western face of the range, "I was still young when he was taken by Fuji-san while trying to help the weaker and slower demons there escape the fallout of its eruption."

"The edge of this range is awful close to Fuji-san, are you certain you want to put yourself at such a similar risk?"

"I am a creature of rock and earth the same way you are one of fire; I do not fear injury or death at the hands of the mountain gods."

It didn't make sense to her, but Kintsuke accepted it, agreeing to the idea on the condition that Yoichi maintained the southern half of the collective range. She didn't need a surprise lava flow to remind her that she wasn't fireproof.

Kintsuke had to admit, she found his centered and calm countenance touched slightly with humor to be fairly enjoyable. Dare she say she even liked him; though she was sure his point-blank refusal to acknowledge her heritage colored her opinion of him. "It is of no consequence at this point," he would comment if it was brought up, and would allow no more to be said on the matter. It made her feel significant, valued on her own merits and skills, and having him around quickly became natural. He made it easier to not be alone and to relax, and for only a breath she nearly considered letting him witness her monthly human transformation. They were, after all, friends and allies…but…

' _Too soon, you still don't know him that well; don't know if you can trust him with that.'_

Still, she found herself quite keenly longing for that complete acceptance his gentle smile seemed to offer so freely; and she wondered what it would be like to even one person she didn't have to hide from.

She could say with confidence that through everything they'd experienced together in the usurpation up to now, she could truly find only one thing about him that displeased her; he was too docile. The flames and passion that still burned in her blood and in her very nature demanded equal reciprocation, but Yoichi seemed pleased enough with a calm and simple accord in their discussions, avoiding conflict whenever he could.

Sometimes he seemed just plain apathetic, and his minor humor did not allow for her infrequent bouts of playfulness. She liked him, she really did, and he seemed to like her as well, but something fundamental was missing; something primal and vicious...something...cold...

She shuddered at the formless desire that crept through her veins and itched at the edges of her claws, trying to ignore the way her very core thrummed to the hollow echo of a youki long gone.

***

Sesshoumaru hummed to himself contemplatively as Myouga finished his recounting of the more recent events in the southern mountains. The relative calm that had followed Kintsuke's final battle years ago had persisted for some time now, at least in her territory, and Sesshoumaru's own business was currently well in hand. His inner demon clawed at his walls now, howling that these years, although mere moments to him, had been far too long to make himself wait for something as simple as a conversation, and were more than sufficient time to allow the female to breathe as she desired.

He found himself agreeing once more, it was time to push to the south.

Directing Jaken to care for A-Un in his absence, Sesshoumaru rippled smoothly into his true form and rose to glide along the frozen sky. He took a moment to visit Rin as he still did nearly twice a year; resisting the urge to turn his nose up at the things his bastard brother and his miko wench had spawned before beginning his journey.

It was easy enough to find Mount Hachioka, though a bit more difficult to acquire the information he needed to locate the female. The demons here were skittish and un-trusting, and while he could consider it would only be natural after the events of the past decade and a half, it still irritated him. To his surprise, he found the demons that had taken control around the mountain all but fell silent when they realized who it was he sought.

Their reactions made him certain they knew something of use but were unwilling to impart it. On one hand, it was displeasing that he was being denied; on the other, he could almost say he might be impressed. Either due to fear or loyalty, none seemed willing to point this Sesshoumaru in the direction of his quarry; and he soon found himself confronted by the master of the territory. Sesshoumaru was less than impressed by the male's wiry frame and near-permanent sneer.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?"

Sesshoumaru's brow twitched slightly.

"I am searching out a female half-demon who is skilled with fire. If you will point me in the correct direction, I will ignore your offensive manner."

The male snorted, arms crossing.

"Am I supposed to be frightened by that? Find her yourself, or does your nose not work, mongrel?"

Sesshoumaru's demon purred with pleasure, then growled with disappointment as Sesshoumaru lunged forth quicker than the other male could react, wrapping his long fingers around the male's throat and pinning him to the ground. His demon wanted blood, wanted to hear screams and watch this hooligan suffer, but that would not get him what he wanted this time.

"Would you like to try again?" Sesshoumaru nearly coo'd, lip curling into a wretchedly calm smile.

The male choked and clawed at the thumb that threatened to crush his windpipe, eyes rolling back involuntarily before he finally relented and Sesshoumaru released his hold, chilled golden eyes narrowed down at the gasping form at his feet.

"Further south," the male managed to cough out, "in the mountains."

Sesshoumaru blinked, making a note on his mental map before turning away without another word and strolling leisurely on toward his next destination.

_'A hunt, is it, then?'_

In lieu of the passed-up kill, his inner predator was satisfied with this.


	30. Intrusion

1573, first year of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, early Spring

Kintsuke pursed her lips slightly as she listened to the report from her recently-returned scout.

"This human… What was he called again?"

"Oda Nobunaga."

"I see; and you're sure about this?"

The bird-like sprite perched on Kintsuke's fingers bobbed her head.

"I overheard the human clearly and was able to get a good look at his map. He will continue pursuit of the religious human sect he hunts, which will bring him even closer to Fuji-san. I have no doubt his ambitions to unite all the human colonies will bring his forces here as well in the near future."

Kintsuke nodded, continuing to listen as Tabi prattled off what she'd picked up along the way about the progress of a 'Sesshoumaru' to the north. The news was everything Kintsuke expected and feared it would be, full of violence and death and rage.

She restrained the grimace that threatened to sully her features so fair.

_'Are you still searching for power, oh bloodthirsty daiyoukai? To what end? What is it all for? You've claimed the northern, eastern, and western provinces; will you come here next…?'_

"Thank you, Tabi. Please, rest now."

She didn't have to tell the sprite twice. With a flick of the half-demon's fingers, Tabi fluttered off into the trees on the eastern face of Omuroyama. Tucking her arms into her sleeves as she mulled over the news, Kintsuke strolled leisurely back down to the safety of her underground fortress.

_'Even I avoided the humans' Kyoto colony when I first returned. If this Oda person was able to take control of it by force, then he and his soldiers are not something that can be ignored like the rest.'_

She could hide down here and avoid the coming fire altogether, but she had the residents of the mountains depending on her now to keep them safe. They were of average power, at best, and most were smaller even than she; definitely not a force to be taken into battle, even a defensive one on their own land.

_'What to do…'_

She was still considering her options when Yoichi arrived for his usual visit, and over a small meal she shared Tabi's news along with her own ideas

"Humans move slowly, especially in a force large enough to be a concern," he mused, "I expect we have at least a year or two before we start hearing of them nearby, let alone see them. Still, we should begin preparations."

Kintsuke nodded.

"My thoughts exactly."

The 'what' was easy enough to figure out; it was the 'how' that posed a problem. It would be simple enough to outfit the cavern and its connected systems of smaller caves to house the various demons under her protection; but what to do about food and water, fresh air, concealing the entrance? Neither she nor Yoichi knew anyone skilled in the demon arts of magic, and she did not usually fare well with water demons of any stripe, so she could not barter a deal with one to search her cavern floor for a hidden water vein.

She would have to employ her allies and resources again instead. Kintsuke didn't exactly enjoy asking for help from them, but the stinging of her pride was far less than the self-loathing she would feel if she failed to keep her word to the demons of the mountains.

"Yoichi, do you think Pappiri-san would be willing to lend us a hand tracking down an underground water source?"

The earth demon fingered a lock of his evergreen hair in contemplation for a moment before nodding.

"With appropriate recompense, I believe she could be convinced."

Kintsuke winced internally. She knew exactly what would garner favor from Pappiri, but it would mean sacrificing at least one healthy mortal; Pappiri had quite the love of a good human roast. Yoichi seemed to pick up on her displeasure, already knowing what she was thinking, and offered her a calm half-smile.

"If it will put you at ease, I will go with you."

Kintsuke returned his smile, but it was more one of pity. He truly was too kind for his own good. She desired his company and support, though, and agreed to let him come along. They headed out shortly after lunch. As they made their way to the surface, the pair continued to flesh out their plans. Kintsuke had nearly convinced Yoichi to handle the actual kidnapping of the human when she tasted it on the wind. She didn't want to believe it, but her nose didn't lie.

' _Sesshoumaru._ '

He had come; the last person she wanted to have to deal with right now.

Yoichi blinked at her as she stood, frozen to the spot, ears straining and eyes fixed on an invisible point in the sky. He recognized this shift in her demeanor; he'd seen it many times before years ago in the fight for Hachiokayama.

"Kintsuke-chan?"

"Go on without me, Yoichi-kun; I'll meet you and Pappiri-san at Lake Sagami."

He frowned slightly.

"If you've a confrontation to handle, I would prefer to remain nearby. These are my mountains as well."

"It's nothing of that nature. I won't be long, but please, go."

She did her best to make her tone kind but urgent, and a slightly reassuring smile seemed to convince him to not argue for the moment. She waited until Yoichi had sprinted down the mountain face and out of sight before casting her gaze up. The clouds were soft and wispy today, the chilly spring breeze sweeping them aside to reveal a form she knew well.

Their eyes locked and he tilted his head slightly as though considering her from on high. He alighted down, landing softly to stand before her in all his grace and amaranthine beauty. The fresher, purer wave of his scent that fell around her made the edges of her claws itch for something she couldn't quite describe, and she ran them along her fingertips out of sight to try and ease the sensation away.

The silence between them was awkward somehow.

"Welcome to my territory, Lord Sesshoumaru…" she said softly, but pointedly.

She would not allow him, so haughty and entitled, to forget where he was now. He flicked his eyes to give the area a polite consideration before nodding slightly to accept her welcome.

"Finding you almost proved challenging."

His voice dripped with superiority in the way she remembered so keenly, and as he stepped to close the distance between them, she shifted to take the higher, more dominant ground, maintaining the space.

"As it always should."

Her tone was polite, if not a touch suspicious. What was he doing here? She'd heard nothing from her allies of his presence or actions, so he had to have come directly to her. Why?

"What can I do for you?"

He almost smiled at her petty power play and let it pass, tucking his arms into his sleeves leisurely as he examined a nearby tree.

"Word has reached me that the contention in this area has been quelled."

"You're a little late with the 'congratulations',"

She jeered at him, knowing that wasn't why he was here, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity. He didn't miss a beat, tone needling.

"Your opponents must have been formidable for it to take you and your 'friends' nearly a decade-and-a-half to settle things."

"What makes you think it took so long?"

"News on the wind, among other things."

She narrowed her eyes as she grew curt.

"Complications arose and we dealt with them accordingly."

"Complications?"

"Challenging enemies."

"Of what nature?"

"The kind that are now dead."

"By your own hand?"

"A combined effort."

"I see."

She squared her shoulders, finding authority in her tone.

"My turn, if you don't mind; why the interrogation? What is it you're after?"

Slowly, he turned his head to fix her with his honey gold eyes, sending a shiver down her spine to coil tightly in her stomach.

"You are, no doubt, aware of my own recent exploits. Surely you can imagine what my next course of action will be."

"I could, but that would be mostly supposition."

"My goals have not changed."

"Perhaps not, but who's to say I understood what they were back then, let alone can anticipate them now?"

She did not waiver under his chilled gaze.

"Speak plainly, Sesshoumaru, or leave; I have things to do and no time to waste on circular conversations."

She felt his jyaki thrash for a moment before he pulled it back under tenuous control, rage flashing across his features just so.

"You dare speak to this Sesshoumaru in such a manner…"

Kintsuke squared her shoulders.

"In my own lands, yes, I do."

It all happened in an instant.

He was before her, their jyaki coiling and bashing against the other; his claws hovering just above the flesh of her throat. His eyes blazed, reflecting her own and they each bared their fangs, though her snarl was nothing compared to the sound that rumbled in his chest and belly.

Its undertones spoke directly to her soul, her knees threatened to give in, and she fought the urge to expose her throat. There was something else under all his indignant anger, something coldly passionate and primal, and even in its fear, her demon spirit cried out for it.

Slowly, he withdrew his hand, bones cracking under the strain as he tucked it away under his sleeve again. Her ears flicked as the warmth of his breath tickled the tufted ends.

"I _will_ have further words with you, and soon. Handle your business, Kintsuke, but do not make this Sesshoumaru wait."

He stepped, pulling along the mokomoko that had settled around her feet, and was gone.

The weight of his sudden absence now was too much to bear along with everything else, and Kintsuke let her trembling body fold into itself at the base of a nearby tree. Her heart still thundered in her chest, the encounter leaving her with a frozen and hollow sensation. Slowly, she calmed, understanding, but refusing to admit to, the underlying desire that made her croon.


	31. Delay

For no one else, not even his Rin, would Sesshoumaru have permitted such language and tone. The clouds were his escape once again, his guise released as he bathed himself in their cleansing moisture.

He had to be rid of these scents; both hers and his.

The smell of the female was quickly sapping him of his plenary control, and the scent of the male he'd seen her with earlier only served to stroke his ever-present bloodlust. It was written in Kintsuke's smell; that…thing was around her constantly, only rarely touching, but it was enough. Despite being lesser, for he could tell by its scent, the male had what this Sesshoumaru wanted and as such was an obstacle.

_'Her fear, as well…_ ' he thought with a snarl.

He'd felt it under her aggression, in the struggle of her power against his; she was still suspicious of him. For over two centuries they had been apart, unknowing, un-touching, now reacquainted and he had allowed her the distance she'd demanded of him, and yet…

_'Does the past still haunt you so, my hanyou? Do you still feel the juvenile scorn, the burning of this Sesshoumaru's poison?'_

The thought bothered him, caused him a new sort of discomfort. He did not allow it to discourage him, however, for even as she'd defied him yet again in that manner he almost admired, he'd felt the desires of her demon soul. In that intimate moment, it had been pining for him.

***

"Kinstuke-chan?"

Yoichi's voice was tinged with concern. Kintsuke was still shaking by the time she'd caught up with him at the border between her own territory and Pappiri's. She tried to offer him a reassuring expression, but couldn't manage it. He hesitated for a moment but gently pressed his hand against her arm in his usual comforting manner.

She flinched. His touch felt wrong. Gently, she moved his hand, offering him another smile, but he only frowned.

"What happened? Who was he, the man with the fur?"

She wasn't' at all surprised that Yoichi had been watching.

"His name is Sesshoumaru."

She could tell by his expression that he understood.

"You are acquainted with such a being?"

"Formerly, yes."

"What was it he wanted?"

It was Kintsuke's turn to frown, and she unconsciously pressed her fingertips to the points on her neck where she'd felt the warmth of Sesshoumaru's claws.

"I'm not sure."

_'But by the gods I am going to find out.'_

***

Kintsuke found, thankfully, that Pappiri was quite satisfied with the single human sacrifice in exchange for her request.

"Might as well get it over with." Pappiri sighed, and Kintsuke could not agree more.

She and Yoichi both were grateful for the water demon's haste, and together the three of them managed the trek back to Omuroyama un-accosted. As they approached, however, Pappiri's nerves nearly got the better of her.

"Do you not sense that?" her voice quivered slightly.

Kintsuke merely blinked at her questioningly. Yoichi pointedly did not react.

"There's a greater demon nearby, even stronger than that bug we fried at Hachioka."

"It is nothing to be concerned with," Kintsuke assured her. "Let us continue."

Pappiri gave the half-demon a suspicious glance before hesitantly following Yoichi's lead into the root of the mountain. Kintsuke scrutinized the clouds before doing the same. His form was nowhere to be seen, but she could still sense and smell Sesshoumaru nearby.

He was waiting for her; and the thought made her uneasy.

She didn't know how long this would take, there were so many passages and smaller caverns to search… Could he, would he, wait that long?

_'I guess I'm about to find out.'_

***

Kintsuke couldn't help but feel that Yoichi was, somehow, displeased with her. They worked in silence, assisting Pappiri where they could, but Yoichi's skills in manipulating the earth were of far more use than any Kintsuke possessed, and it left her plenty of time with her own thoughts.

The demon within her seemed to pace, impatient; it wanted to see him again. Just to be near him would be enough, it seemed, but Kintsuke knew it was dangerous. Sesshoumaru's very presence caused her anxiety of the most primordial sort and had for as long as she could remember. Her throat and wrists tingled with the various memories of when he had touched her, always in anger…except for twice.

Once he had taken her wrist firmly, pressed his comb into her fingers. They'd been 'fighting' and he'd scorned her. It was his way of apologizing, she supposed, returning them to their usual routine. At the very least, she had understood that he had no longer been angry with her.

The second time was a bit blurry, a memory she'd tried in her own way to forget. She had dressed him, for the first and only time, and it had been shortly before he'd turned her out. She remembered standing so near to him, feeling his warmth, the suffocating weight of his demi-god-like power; the roughness of his fingertips, and the barest kiss of his claws as he again captured her wrist to make her take the comb. Even now she shuddered as she recalled how he had held tightly her, if only for a moment.

He had changed over the years; she could not deny that. He was still, and would always be, Sesshoumaru, but there was a maturity and almost a kindness about him now that she was force to recognize; less in what he'd done and more so in what he had not. He had not pursued her or made her life difficult, he had rescinded his vow to kill her on sight, and even before she'd left for the mainland he'd never truly followed through with it.

She was certain he'd been aware of the developments here in the south, how she and her allies had struggled; it would have been the perfect opportunity for him to establish power here, but he had not interfered…

_'And he did not hurt you this time.'_

She lifted a hand to her throat where he'd almost grabbed her. He'd stopped himself, and his claws had not been toxic. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, it seemed, only cow her. Was it possible, she mused, that Sesshoumaru held her in some sort of regard? To inquire almost politely, to not interfere, to nearly ask instead of telling, to use her name…

No. It was a ridiculous thought, but despite her greatest effort, it was one she could not shake.


	32. Intentions

Sesshoumaru was not idle as he waited for Kintsuke to handle her affairs. Her territory was small by his standards, comprised only of a trio of peaks and the lands surrounding their bases; the rest of the range belonged to that male thing. He examined the other territories, defining borders and noting the scents of their masters for future reference; though with any luck, his interactions with these weaker demons would be minimal.

He'd watched Kintsuke leave towards the lake with the male and return to her mountain with another female in tow, disappearing deep into the thick forests on the eastern side of the center mountain. Slowly, the sun had set and risen again and another day wore on. He continued to examine, to keep watch, but as the sun began to set once more, he grew restless. She was making him wait, exactly the thing he had requested she not do. Did she think him aimless, without business of his own?

_'Is she testing this Sesshoumaru?'_

The thought both irritated and amused him.

The sun had nearly disappeared by the time she finally made herself known again, leaping effortlessly and alone to settle on a cliff about half-way up her central peak. There, he saw her search the skies, for him no doubt; and Sesshoumaru scrutinized the area thoroughly to ensure that male thing was nowhere to be found before alighting down to join her.

***

Kintsuke watched the full moon rise, pale and muted in the lingering light of day. She felt Sesshoumaru arrive, landing behind her at a polite distance and she was thankful for it. Her inner demon was instantly on edge again, and she ensured it was well under control before she finally turned to face him.

He was already watching her and met her gaze immediately. Something was…different. Her usual fire was lessened somehow, and the sharpness was gone from her yellow jade eyes. He felt her hesitation along with her intention to speak, and so remained silent. He was curious to hear what she had to say. This time, she did not make him wait long.

She licked her lips and cast her eyes to the side, knowing she risked losing her nerve if she continued to watch him.

"I will endeavor to waste as little of your time as possible; all I ask is that you are equally frank with me."

She waited for his slight nod of understanding before continuing.

"This cannot continue, Sesshoumaru. No, let me clarify, I will not allow it to continue; this vagueness, these unspoken intentions and hidden meanings. I have a life here and a home. I have allies and creatures I've sworn to protect. Whatever your plans for this province, I am affected, as are my 'people', if you will allow them to be referenced in such a manner. I would know what it is you want here."

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, considered her words and all their implications carefully as the silence fell heavily between them. The wind shifted, tugging his mokomoko around, but she was too far from him and it fell, instead, around his own feet. He felt a slight unease as he concluded that he would need to speak even those things which he himself had not yet accepted; but for his ends to be met, for his future, for his very destiny, it was required. Whether either of them consented to it or not, Kintsuke was entwined with that destiny.

"You will have to be more specific in your questioning." He said smoothly, tucking his arms into his sleeves.

"What are your intentions for the southern province?"

"It will, eventually, become part of my empire along with the rest."

"And the residents?"

"A chosen few will become my vassals and see to the enforcement of my will in the area."

"You've done this with the other provinces, I take it."

"I have."

"Are you planning to use this province as a buffer against the human forces coming north from Kyoto?"

He blinked for a moment, not quite sure what she meant. Ah, yes, he remembered now, that ambitious human General.

"The waves of war are unpredictable. All will do their part."

"Will you take a direct approach with the humans?"

"I will not."

"I see."

She looked at him again, finding his eyes held something similar to what had underlined his rage days before. Curious, she shifted slightly as though to approach and saw it flicker, almost hopeful. It gave her pause. Details of his manner of the conquest of the south could wait. She felt he was finally being some-what open with her and had more significant questions for him while he was.

"Sesshoumaru."

The sound of his name on her lips in that tone sent a shiver down his spine.

"Yes…Kintsuke?"

She hesitated, the way he'd spoke her name almost making her words fail.

"What is it you want with me?"

His jaw clenched, not expecting the sudden shift in conversation. She had come almost directly to the very matter he had not yet prepared to discuss.

"In what manner?"

"Before, you swore to kill me on sight were I to be found in your territory, yet each time you found me you did not; either by intent or apathy; and you did not pursue me. Why?"

"There were more pressing matters to tend to."

"And later when I returned from the mainland? You pursued me then."

"I had heard news of your death, yet your scent could not be mistaken. I needed to see with my own eyes."

"You could have killed me at that time, yet instead you rescinded your declaration. Why?"

"I no longer desired your death."

"Because you had more important issues to tend to?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"The matter has been settled. Why do you still concern yourself?"

"You are, and will always be, the daiyoukai Sesshoumaru, but you are different from the one I used to know. I want to understand who you are now, and what drives you; for my own safety and peace of mind."

He blinked for a moment, then slid his eyes up to the softly glowing moon. In this case, it was a fair enough question.

"Your minor sins did not warrant death."

He waited for the response that did not come. Her silence finally drew his attention, and he found that she was smiling gently, chuckling softly in her throat.

"Something amuse you?"

There was a sharpness to his tone. She shook her head a tad.

"You are beginning to sound like your honorable father, in the best sense."

Sesshoumaru licked his lips, unsure of how to respond. Coming from anyone else aside from Rekkonji, those words would have been meaningless, laughable even; but from her, who had known him as well as his father, they were almost significant. She offered him a distraction from the confusing effect they'd had on him, every sense keenly honed as she moved, closing the distance between them just enough to put him at ease. Admittedly, the excessive space had kept him on edge.

"Tell me something."

He tilted his head in question.

"You knew full well the developments here, how we struggled. It would have been the perfect opportunity for you to seize control and establish a base of power here for your empire, yet you did not."

Her tone offered a silent 'why'.

"I was awaiting news of your victory."

Kintsuke blinked, admittedly stunned.

"My…victory?"

"I am unaware of a time wherein you have failed to achieve your desired ends. Even death, it seems, cannot hold you. I expect your future endeavors will see you equally successful."

"Is that why you maintain my acquaintance; that you might benefit from my victories like you did in the past?"

"Are they all you feel you have to offer?"

"The only thing that would matter to you, yes."

Sesshoumaru fell silent. He could tell where this was going, and it unsettled him.

"I do believe I am entitled to a question or two of my own."

He watched her ears flick and perk before she nodded in agreement and he continued.

"Why do you seem to fear this Sesshoumaru?"

She licked her lips slowly.

"Because I still remember the suffering I endured at your hands. I know I was your servant, and you were within your rights, but I will not be so mistreated again. I will bend knee to no one."

"Do you suppose I will attempt to force you?"

"If it is what you desire, then yes, I do."

"Hn."

"Will you?"

He blinked but continued to hold her gaze.

"You are not one to be owned, by this Sesshoumaru or any other."

"Then why did you come here? You're still talking in circles."

Her patience was growing thin. Sesshoumaru could tell there was no indirect way to convince her.

_'Will this assuage you, dear hanyou? This indignant veneration, these forthright confessions?'_

He knew what he needed to say, but it was ignoble. He hesitated. Kintsuke squared her shoulders as she stepped forth, leaving barely any space between them.

"Well?" she demanded.

"I want you to come with me."

"What for?"

"To assist in building my empire."

Kintsuke snorted.

"Ask Rekkonji."

"He is already assisting me."

"Then why do you need me?"

"He will not leave his territory for long. I require one with whom I can travel."

She spread her arms.

"And I have my own territory to look after, my people, my home. Why would I leave?"

"You are ambitious. There is greater profit in making your name known in other lands."

Kitsuke's arms slowly dropped to her sides and she looked away from him. He felt her resistance falter and persisted.

"Tell me, can you be satisfied with such a life as this? Is there nothing more you desire?"

Her lips parted, but no sound emerged. He was right. She hated to admit it, but Sesshoumaru was right. There was something lacking in her life here, and her nobility was dependant on the handful of local demons. Anywhere else, and she would still be nothing but a half-breed.

"...Assume I agree, how long would I be away?"

"There is still much to be done."

_'Even he doesn't know. I do want to go, but...what of my responsibilities here?'_

Sesshoumaru felt her waiver. This was his chance.

"Come with me, Kintsuke," he breathed. "Fight at my side."

_'Where you belong.'_

He heard her heart quicken. Her lips moved, but still, no sound came. Now that she was within reach, he urged his mokomoko to shift, curling it around her feet. Her breathing stopped for a moment. He held his own as he waited. Finally, she shifted, curling a thin lock of his hair that had fallen over his shoulder in her fingers.

"These ends... They are in a sorry state."

Shivers of memory coiled up his neck and crawled along his skin to his forehead as she stepped around him to smooth the lock into the rest.

"It has not been my most immediate concern."

She hummed, mindlessly running her fingers along his endless falls of silver.

_'Yoichi can handle things here, and, if it comes to it, I can afford to hand my mountains over to him. He wants to control the entire range, anyway. I am not so attached that I'm unwilling to gamble for something better, something more.'_

"I have business to settle here."

Sesshoumaru turned, letting her hand brush along his arm.

"Then do so, and find me in Musashi when you are finished."


	33. Reunited

1575, early Azuchi-Momoyama Period, early

The seasons passed slowly for Sesshoumaru. Kintsuke required time, he knew, but as Spring gave way to Summer, to Winter, and around again to a fading Autumn, he began to wonder if she would come at all. He listened for rumors, but there were none. He reached out with his senses, trying to find that ghostly echo just beyond their reach that had haunted him in the past, but it was silent. Whatever her responsibilities and endeavors were, she was not meeting significant resistance.

Still.

Autumn chilled into Winter, and before the ice and snow set in, Sesshoumaru made his way once again to the colony in Musashi where his Rin remained nested. The years were showing in her features now and it pained him, even as he was again welcomed by the cheerful chorus of 'Sesshoumaru-sama' from herself, her mate, and her two children. Only these humans, and only this home, were proper, acceptable, and he spared her two quickly growing pups a pat on the head before departing once more.

As he made his way to the place where he'd left Jaken and A-Un, he felt the stirring just beyond his senses that he'd been waiting for. He paused, scanning the horizon to the south until he saw it; the fluttering of a black haori and white hair in the biting wind. The figure strode along leisurely, leading a horse along by the bridle, and he quickly found its scent on the air; rich, molten.

It was her. She had finally come to him. His inner demon growled with satisfaction as she drew closer to stand before him.

"Two years, female…" he cooed, almost chiding.

She offered him a simple smile. 

"Everything is in order now."

He took a moment to scrutinize her form, finding everything exactly as it had been when last they'd met; flowing black haori and hakama, a pure white kimono crossed and pressed neatly under the form-fitted cuirass crafted in the style of the mainland. When the breeze curled around her, he could see the strips and loops of leather and metal peeking out from behind her hips where her tonfa were poised, ready, and waiting. His gaze shifted to the beast she held steady.

"Such a creature will only serve to slow our pace."

She pursed her lips just so but did not argue, releasing the creature before falling into step behind and to the side of the path Sesshoumaru made in the slowly freezing tall grass. There were no words as they walked, for none were needed. The sounds, the scents, the sensations of the other being nearby was enough for now, and neither was willing to disturb the fragile tranquility and contentment they each found in their long-awaited reunion.

***

Jaken bolted up from his snoozing perch atop A-Un's saddle as he became aware of his master's approach.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! You've retur-…!"

His words fell short as he spotted the female tagging along beside his master at a respectful distance.

"Jaken, is A-Un prepared for travel?" Sesshoumaru asked simply, scrutinizing the two-head and the imp for any signs of trouble that might have transpired in his absence.

"Er..that is, yes, m'lord, he is," Jaken's goblin-like face wrinkled even more as he found Kintsuke's scent, "but what is a half-demon doing here?"

Sesshoumaru ran a hand through the dragon's manes as it lifted its heads to greet him.

"Kintsuke will be traveling with us from now on."

Jaken nearly guffawed even as Kintsuke offered him a polite inclining of her head.

"What!? A half-breed; travel with you?! Preposterous! Such a creature would only serve to slow us-"

"Jaken..."

Sesshoumaru's voice was soft, almost sing-song, and the imp recognized the promise of severe reprimand in its deceptively sweet tones. He whimpered as he dropped his head.

"Please forgive my unsightly outburst, master, it was most uncalled for."

Kintsuke had looked elsewhere during the exchange, as was deemed polite to do, but watched from the corner of her eye to gauge as much as she could of their dynamic from the scene. While she felt something akin to empathy for the imp, for she had once been where he was now, she couldn't deny that the whole thing seemed almost comical in a way.

"Acquaint yourself with A-Un." Sesshoumaru said to her smoothly, stepping away from the creature. "We will be leaving shortly."

Jaken shot her a venomous glower before hopping down to follow after his master. Left with only each other, the dragon and half-breed considered each other warily, and Sesshoumaru watched from nearby with obfuscated interest as lightning began to spark from A-Un's snarling maw at the approaching stranger.

The 'discussion' was a quick and simple one, Kintsuke's jyaki flaring to meet the dragon's own and holding it at bay with relative ease. She didn't try to overpower it, however, for she did not seek to dominate the creature, only come to an understanding. She did not see the way Sesshoumaru seemed to smirk as A-Un released a full blast of its electricity at her, meeting it with a quick flare of her youki into a mass of her protective black and purple flames.

The dragon seemed puzzled, growling, and sparking at her once more only to have its power again deflected without a second thought. Twice more it tried before finally relenting and allowing this half-demon creature near enough to press her hand against one of its heads.

A sort of pleasure purred through Sesshoumaru's veins. While he had not seen those flames in quite some time, he distinctly remembered them having been far weaker than they were now, remembered how she'd struggled to use them. Judging from the lack of effort she needed to exert now, he could only imagine what other feats Kintsuke was capable of with that ever-curious demonic fire.

***

Kintsuke held tightly to A-Un's saddle as they glided swift and smooth through the clouds, trying her best not to consider just how high up they were. She hated the way it made her nervous. She focused instead on the fluttering ends of Sesshoumaru's mokomoko as he sped along ahead, Jaken clinging to one of them with practiced determination.

They were headed north, though Sesshoumaru had not specified to where. Eventually, great mountain peaks began jutting up through the wispy white, and Sesshoumaru finally began leading their decent onto one of the vast cliffs below. A small home had been built against the face of the mountain here, and Kintsuke blinked as she took in the familiar scent she suddenly found.

_'Could it be…?'_

She nearly lost her grip from the force of A-Un's thunderous landing, slipping from the saddle onto her own feet as soon as she was able. She ignored Jaken's haughty chuckle as she steadied herself before striding quickly to catch up with Sesshoumaru, who had begun making his way toward the home.

Rekkonji peered through the window slats; setting aside the dagger he'd been sharpening to go meet his guests.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, welcome back."

He exchanged respectful nods with his fellow daiyoukai before flicking his eyes to the female behind him. Rekkonji laughed heartily.

"Neither Heaven nor Hell could hold you, could they? Welcome home, Lady Kintsuke."

Kintsuke swelled with pride to hear him use her name, and even grant her a title! She gave a him respectful bow.

"It's good to see you, Warmaster. It has been a long time."

"Please, come in."

He waved a hand in a welcoming manner toward the small home, and they filtered inside and out of the cold. 

As they settled around the fire pit, Jaken placed himself directly between Sesshoumaru and Kintsuke, not the least bit ashamed of the all-too-obvious power play. A bemused glance from his master, however, shuffled him back to kneel in his proper placement behind the daiyoukai, and Kintsuke bit her lip to silence the chuckle that was rising in her throat.

"Where are your attendants?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Rekkonji waved the question off.

"Tending to their assignments. Shall we begin?"

She listened, respectfully silent, as the two males reviewed the current state of affairs in the provinces. Rekkonji was not surprised by the news of the human General to the south and his slowly approaching forces, and Kintsuke offered what information she could on the matter when asked.

The East and West were securely under Sesshoumaru's personal control, the vast stretches of the North maintained through the efforts of both Rekkonji and Commander Hiken.

"Which only leaves the conquest of the South, if such is still your desire." Rekkonji commented.

Sesshoumaru nodded.

"Might I suggest a hastening, in light of impending mortal conflicts?"

"I believe another may hold an opinion on that."

All eyes shifted to Kintsuke as he inquired about the current temperaments in the region. She told them as much as she knew, of the various lords and ladies around Lake Sagami and Mount Hachioka, their luke-warm opinions of Sesshoumaru's intentions, and the arrangement made in the meantime for her to act as a liaison of sorts.

"They have agreed to allow me to represent their interests directly for your gracious consideration."

Rekkonji chuckled softly, exchanging a glance with the daiyoukai across from him. "Enterprising as ever, this one…"

Sesshoumaru hummed softly in agreement, and Kintsuke did not miss the slight smirk that pulled at the corner of his delicate lips. She simply bowed her head slightly in the expected humble, but not submissive, manner.

The most immediate matters handled, they dispersed to their various tasks; Sesshoumaru to tend to himself with Jaken in tow, Rekkonji to warm a bit of food for them all, and Kintsuke along with him to assist where she could. With Sesshoumaru out of earshot, she had questions for the old jackal.

"Warmaster," she began, using her talents to tend to the fire, "what happened to Zheng?"

"That one met his end shortly after you disappeared."

"Because of the Bifang?"

"In a manner of speaking…"

His tone told her there was more to the story, but she knew that asking directly would not reveal the answers she sought.

"He tried to kill me that day, tripped me when I was on the defensive."

Rekkonji paused momentarily.

"I am well aware."

"Did you know?"

"About?"

"His attempt to kill us all off; myself and the other pups; to leave only the Lady Consort and Princess Shu-Ting alive for his purposes."

His silence frustrated her.

"I overheard the conversation that day when you arrived."

Rekkonji set down the clay bowl he'd plucked from the stack nearby.

"I honored my word to assist in slaying the Bifang to the letter, and not a bit more."

He read the question she was trying to put to words in her eyes.

"The struggle of birthright between yourself and Zheng was yours and yours alone. It was not my place to interfere, and I was unwilling to do you the dishonor. You were then and remain, for all intents and purposes, the eldest princess and heir of Shanghai Province. Zheng did not have a chance to disavow you or officially declare Princess Shu-ting his formal heir. This is all I have to say on that matter."

"And what of my 'grandfather'?"

"He admitted to what he had done. I challenged him; he lost."

Kintsuke smiled softly as the pieces fell into place, forming a panorama that, for all its flaws, pleased her. Rekkonji had made Zheng pay for his sins, had avenged her dishonorable death. It touched her deeply.

"Thank you, Warmaster."

He retrieved the bowl he'd set down, filling it with soup and pushing it into her hands.

"The Inu no Taishou is dead; Rekkonji will do now."

She noted the hint of bitterness in his tone as he settled himself by the fire pit with his own bowl, reading it for the muted pain that it was and for a moment she remembered Shinjirou.

_'They must have been close. Rekkonji, I do not envy you your loss.'_

***

Sesshoumaru blinked from the side room he had stepped into as the conversation came to an end. The walls were thin here, he could not help but eavesdrop.

_'You have been busy, female, haven't you?'_

He would have to find a time wherein they could examine her roguery on the mainland. For now, he finished shrugging into fresh shitagi, his kimono, armor, and obi before rejoining the others by the fire. The discussions were shallow and fleeting as they sipped their tea and soup, Kintsuke feeding the fire a bit of her youki now and again to keep it burning high without using up Rekkonji's wood stores. It was especially cold this season.

Sesshoumaru paid little attention as Rekkonji and Kintsuke reviewed various uses of her particular weapon of choice, his gaze resting lazily on his own knuckles wrapped around his cup. A familiar movement caught his attention, however; Kintsuke's graceful gesture to tuck back her sleeve as she reached for the teapot to fill her cup.

His reaction was sharp and immediate.

"Jaken," he snipped.

The imp shuffled forward.

"Y-Yes, milord?"

"Tea."

The imp blinked at him for a moment, and Kintsuke's hand paused on the cast iron handle, puzzled.

"Er…sire?"

"Can you not see their cups are empty?"

Jaken looked, finding Kintsuke's, indeed, empty, but Rekkonji's only half-so. The imp said nothing, however, and as Kintsuke relinquished the pot to straighten herself in a poised manner, Jaken glowered livid virulence at the floor and assumed the task she had attempted. While Kintsuke and Rekkonji cast awkward glances here and there, Sesshoumaru simply closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth and flavor of the liquid in his own cup.

Perhaps now, Kintsuke would understand his opinion of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everybody! Thank you so much for reading! This is the end of 'Fire on the Water.' There is a drafted third and final part to this story that is currently on the backburner for me. However, if it's something you'd like to read, let me know, and I'll fire it back up!


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